KUT, Iraq, Aug 13 (AFP) - Seven Iraqis were killed and 34 wounded as US forces attacked suspected Shiite militia positions in the southern city of Kut, a hospital official said Friday, as the governor warned of air strikes if fresh violence broke out.
A woman was among six people killed and 20 wounded when US shells hit the Izzat district on the Tigris River, said the chief of Kut`s general hospital.
"The Americans also hit an Iraqi National Guard post by mistake in the Al-Haidariya neighbourhood, killing one guardsman and wounding 14 others at around 2:00 am (2200 GMT)," he added.
Later Friday, the governor of Kut, Mohammed Ridha al-Jashami, warned of renewed air strikes by the US-led multinational forces in case fresh violence broke out or if curfew orders were disobeyed.
"We call upon citizens to be committed to the curfew that will be imposed from 9 pm (1700 GMT) until 6 am (0200 GMT) and those who will not obey it will be subjected to air strikes," the governor said in a statement which was read out over loudspeakers in mosques.
On Thursday, a statement from a Polish-led force in the area described the situation in Kut as "still serious and it is possible that some fights can occur again".
"The governor, who holds a legal authority in the region, has the right to ask the command of multinational forces in Iraq for support from US forces to take action.
"Therefore, if the fights start again in this town, the US army quick reaction forces can intervene," it added.
Heavy US bombing overnight Wednesday killed 84 people and wounded nearly 180 others, a day after clashes between Iraqi police and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr, medics said.
Hours after the bombings, militiamen attacked and set ablaze Al-Balda police station in central Kut, killing one policeman and wounding nine others, said police Lieutenant Waqar Bashir.
Kut fell briefly to Sadr loyalists during an earlier uprising by the militia against the US-led occupation of Iraq in the spring.