Earlier Monday near the Syrian border, Marines backed by jets attacked
insurgent targets in a cluster of towns and villages near the Syrian
border. The raid was part of an ongoing operation in an area believed
heavily infiltrated by al-Qaida in Iraq and foreign fighters.

A Marine statement said U.S. aircraft fired precision weapons, destroying
two safe houses believed used by al-Qaida figures. The statement made no
mention of casualties, but Associated Press Television News video from the
scene showed residents wailing over the bodies of about six people,
including at least three children.

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, and figures from the area have sometimes proven
exaggerated.

The footage from the scene showed Iraqi men digging through the rubble of
several destroyed concrete buildings with a pitchfork or their hands. In
the building of a nearby home, women wept over about half a dozen
blanket-covered bodies lined up on a floor. Some of the blankets were
opened for the camera showing a man and three children.

"At least 20 innocent people were killed by the U.S. warplanes. Why are
the Americans killing families? Where are the insurgents?" one middle-aged
man told APTN. "We don't see democracy. We just see destruction." He
didn't give his name.

Associated Press reporters Omar Sinan and Tom Wagner in Baghdad and Abbas
Fayadh in Basra contributed to this report.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)