Marines hit full mosque with THREE MISSILES

AP-IRAQ MOSQUE ATTACK
Witnesses: U.S. rockets hit Fallujah mosque complex, killing about 40 people

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) – A U.S. helicopter fired three missiles at a mosque compound in the city of Fallujah on Wednesday, killing about 40 people as American forces battled Sunni insurgents, witnesses said.

Cars ferried bodies from the scene, though there was no immediate confirmation of causalities.

Part of the wall surrounding the Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque was demolished, said AP reporter Abdul-Qader Saadi, though the mosque building was not damaged.

The strike came as worshippers gathered for afternoon prayers, witnesses said. They said the dead were taken to private homes in the area where temporary hospitals have been set up.

Angry residents gathered around the mosque after the strike. The offices of an organization of Sunni clerics next door was also lightly damaged.

U.S. Marines have besieged Fallujah, west of Baghdad, for the past three days in a major operation aimed at uprooting insurgents.