Uncofirmed reports:40 dead in US airstrike in Iraq
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US jets bombed two insurgent "safe houses" near the Syrian border Monday in an attack aimed at al-Qaida in Iraq, the US command said.
The bobmers attacked a "safe house" apparently being used by a senior al-Qaida leader in Obeidi, a border town 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of Baghdad, the military said.
The jets also used precision-guided munitions to attack a second house suspected of being a base for attacks against American and Iraqi forces, the US command said.
Its statement mentioned no casualties and did not identify the al-Qaida in Iraq leader by name.
At the local hospital, Dr. Ahmed al-Ani claimed 40 Iraqis, including 12 children, were killed in the attack. But the claim could not be independently verified.