Falluja bays for US blood

The US military, which has about 156,000 soldiers in Iraq, said it carried out five more raids in an operation to stamp out the violence, and detained three people. US Central Command said a blast at a mosque in Falluja on Monday night was caused by people being taught how to make bombs in the building.

It said a joint investigation conducted with Falluja police had determined that coalition forces were in no way responsible for the blast. Residents had blamed it on an American air strike — an accusation US military officials flatly denied. Iraqis living in the town said nine people were killed, including the mosque’s imam.

In Falluja, US soldiers took to the streets hoping to convince residents they were not behind the mosque blast, but were met by vows to drive them out of town. ‘‘We will fight a holy war until the last drop of blood. Even boys who are 10 years old will fight until their last drop of blood,’’ said a man standing at the damaged Al-Hassan mosque.

Residents of Falluja were in no mood to listen as US soldiers pressed on with their campaign to win hearts and minds. Two rocket-propelled grenades were fired at US military vehicles in the town on Tuesday night. The US military in Falluja said nobody was hurt.

An American soldier hurt on Tuesday in a Baghdad attack died of his wounds. At least 23 US soldiers have been killed by hostile fire since major combat operations were declared over for the US and British allies on May 1.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a lightning visit to Iraq. He met top British commanders in southern Iraq before going to Baghdad, where he said Iraqis would soon start to assume responsibility for their country, but that the process leading to an Iraqi government would take time. (Reuters)