56 killed in US air strikes in Iraq

At least 56 people were killed in multiple US air strikes in Iraq against suspected al-Qaeda hideouts near the Syrian border at dawn yesterday, an Iraqi security source said.

Besides, heavy fighting broke out in western Iraq between pro and anti-government tribes, leaving at least 35 people dead from both sides, hospital officials said.

The outcome could affect the ease with which foreign extremists move in and out of the border area.

The clashes between the pro-government Bumahl tribe and the pro-insurgent Karabila tribe began after 2 a.m. in the western city of Qaim near the Syrian border, said the officials at the Qaim General Hospital. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from insurgents.

The officials said 20 members of the Bumahl tribe and 15 from Karabila were killed in the clashes. He said dozens were also wounded.

Recent fighting in Qaim, 200 miles west of Baghdad, has left several people killed and wounded.

Meanwhile, at least 56 people were killed in US air strikes against suspected al-Qaeda hideouts.

The attacks, the second such raid in less than a week, came as Sunni Arabs, believed to be the backbone of the raging insurgency, were seeking alliances to defeat Iraq's newly-drafted charter.

"At least 56 people were killed in the air strikes carried out by US forces near Qaim close to the Syrian border," the security source told AFP.

The US military said it had no exact numbers of casualties.

"There was a total of three strikes targetting terrorist safe houses... Abu Islam (a reported al-Qaeda operative) and several associates are believed killed," a US military spokesman in Baghdad said.