22 Iraqis killed as US hits Qaeda hideout in Falluja

But Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said in Baghdad the house was being used by fighters loyal to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, accused by Washington of leading a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and of decapitating a US hostage last month.

‘‘We have significant evidence that there were members of the Zarqawi network in the house,’’ Kimmitt said. But officers said there was no sign that Zarqawi himself — who has a $10 million price on his head — was there when the house was destroyed.

Falluja residents said two missiles were fired at the house by a US plane on Saturday, flattening the building. Kimmitt said the US strike had caused secondary blasts as ammunition inside the house exploded.

‘‘A US plane hit this house and three others were damaged. Only body parts are left,’’ a witness said, as rescuers dug through the rubble of the shattered house for survivors. A man sat on the floor weeping as someone asked him how many members of his family were killed. ‘‘I don’t know. Maybe 10,’’ he said.

‘‘They brought us 22 corpses, children, women and youth,’’ Ahmed Hassan, a cemetery worker, said.

Washington says the Jordanian-born Zarqawi has been the mastermind behind a series of suicide attacks that have sowed chaos and killed hundreds.

In Basra, guerrillas bent on disrupting the handover killed a Portuguese security man. Police said a bomb exploded on a road near Basra, as a vehicle . An Iraqi policeman was also killed and an Indian and another Iraqi were wounded. — (Reuters)