IRAQ

Scotsman: Civilian death toll prompts tension in Fallujah

WITH the ease of a man now used to the spotlight, Ahmed Khalaf guided yet another TV crew round the missile craters in his dead brother Ali’s backyard. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he told how a potshot at suspected sheep rustlers in the middle of the night drew a terrible response.

"American soldiers came to the village one night last week, for no reason we know," he said. "We get thieves round here, so we called out in the dark, ‘Who is there?’ There was no answer, so we fired a few warning shots.

"The next thing, we were shot at, and then two F-16 jets came along and fired missiles into my brother’s home. Can you believe it?" he asked.

In last week’s clash in the farming village of al-Sajr, three adults died and two children were seriously injured, one of whom may now be paralysed.