Three Iraqis were gunned down by US troops near Fallujah as they planted a roadside bomb on a highway's central reservation, the US military said Tuesday.
The troops "killed three enemy personnel emplacing an improvised explosive device (IED)" Monday night at around 8:30 pm (local time), said a statement issued by the US Central Command. It added soldiers on a patrol "determined that the individuals were emplacing an IED and initiated direct fire."
Three were killed and two others managed to escape.
Meanwhile, head of the US Central Command, General John Abizaid said there will be no respite in US military operations during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Asked about a call Monday by a Sunni Muslim leader for a week-long cease-fire during the Eid feast, Abizaid said "no".
"I call on the resistance to suspend operations this week so that Iraqis can live in peace, without the blast of explosives, bombs and shooting," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of Iraq's Sunni religious administration.
"I ask also the occupation forces not to deal with Iraqis as terrorists ... I call on everyone to observe a ceasefire," he said in an Eid sermon at Baghdad's Oum al-Qora mosque. (Albawaba.com)
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