FALLUJAH, Iraq, July 18 (AFP) - At least 11 people were killed after US air strikes on the flashpoint Iraqi city of Fallujah, a suspected hideout of terror suspect Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, hospital officials said Sunday.
"There was a total of 11 people killed and seven injured," said Adnan Mohammadi, a doctor at the main hospital in Fallujah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
Another official at the hospital said that one of the dead was a woman.
The US military confirmed it had carried out air strikes on the Sunni Muslim rebel bastion overnight but had no immediate word on the number of casualties. It said Iraq`s defence ministry was due to issue a statement later on the attack.
The US military has conducted several airborne attacks on Fallujah in pursuit of the Al-Qaeda linked Zarqawi, who on Saturday reportedly claimed reponsibility for a suicide car bombing against the motorcade of Iraqi Justice Minister Malek Dohan al-Hassan.
The minister escaped unscathed but three of his guards, including a nephew, were killed along with two civilians.
Zarqawi`s Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War) group claimed the attack in a message posted on an Islamist website, although its authenticity could not be verified.
The Jordanian-born Zarqawi has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head and the US military is working with the new Iraqi government to catch or kill him.
On July 5, US planes dropped six massive bombs on a suspected safe house of Zarqawi`s shadowy network, killing 12 people.
In April, Fallujah suffered some of Iraq`s worst fighting, leaving hundreds dead as marines and insurgents clashed in the streets. The US military laid siege to the city after four American civilian security contractors were killed in Fallujah and two of the bodies mutilated.