FALLUJAH, Iraq, October 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A US air strike killed at least 12 people Friday, October 8, in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, with a wedding party bearing the brunt of the latest attack, as the US-packed Iraqi interim government welcomed “progress in peace talks” with resistance fighters ahead of January polls.

In what has become a near-nightly pounding, US warplanes bombed a northern district of Fallujah before dawn in what it terms “hunt for supporters of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi”, allegedly behind a series of devastating bomb attacks and kidnappings.

The air strikes’ toll amounted to twelve dead and 16 wounded, all were brought to Fallujah's general hospital, Dr Ali Hayad told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The guests of a wedding party were caught in the onslaught, said a second doctor, Khaled Mohammad Nasser.

The bride and groom were among the injured, according to Al-Jazeera and AFP.

Speaking on Al-Jazeera from a Fallujah hospital bed, a heavily bandaged young man, the groom, dismissed US claims that Al-Zarqawi was the target.

“It was my wedding night, my family members, in-laws, friends and neighbors were all celebrating with me and my groom. Suddenly rockets slammed into the house, reducing it to rubble in no time. Blood was everywhere, I lost conscious, opened my eyes on this bed.

“The Americans say they target Al-Zarqawi and his men. These are sheer lies. There is no terrorists in our city (Fallujah),” the wounded groom, whose wedding night was turned into a funeral, said.

US Repeated Claims

Houses were reduced to rubble

The US military, for which the resistance bastion of Fallujah has since April become a no-go zone for its ground troops, had no information on casualties.

“This strike contributed to reducing the capability of the Zarqawi network and increasing safety and security throughout Iraq,” it said in a statement, reported AFP.

“Multinational forces struck an Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi safe house in north-west Fallujah on the morning of October 8. Credible intelligence sources confirmed Zarqawi leaders were meeting at the safe house at the time of the strike,” the statement said.

Hitting Fallujah has become an almost nightly routine, with the US military in Iraq always claiming to be targeting Al-Zarqawi safe houses and killing members of his group.

However, Iraqi hospital sources, scenes of wide-scale destruction and pictures of killed or wounded women and children extensively covered by various news channels, Arab and foreign, tell a very different story.

Peace Talks

On the other hand, the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said it is in contact with representatives from resistance strongholds such as Fallujah and the Shiite slum of Sadr City in Baghdad, while maintaining that the military option was the last resort.

Hinting at a peaceful resolution to a stand-off between the authorities and Shiite fighters loyal to firebrand scholar Moqtada Sadr, the militia Thursday offered to give up large- and medium-sized weapons in return for the release of prisoners and a role in Iraq's US-backed political process.

Iraq's national security adviser Qasim Dawood welcomed the gesture but offered no indication whether the government would comply with the demands.

“We are ready to lay down our heavy and medium-sized weapons in return for the release of all those imprisoned from our movement, a commitment that members of our movement will no longer be pursued and the restoration of basic services to areas like Sadr City,” Sheikh Abdul Hadi Al-Darraji told AFP.

“This initiative is being presented only to the Iraqi government,” rather than the US-led multinational forces with which Sadr's militia has been battling,” he stressed.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said earlier this week that meetings had also been taking place with community and religious leaders from Fallujah.