BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military said it killed an aide to Iraq's most wanted man Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi in an air strike on rebel-held Fallujah, as the Iraqi authorities vowed to punish those behind the weekend massacre of almost 50 unarmed new soldiers.
Three people were killed in attacks in Baquba, a restive town northeast of Baghdad, while four bombs ripped through the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without causing any injuries.
Zarqawi's Islamic militant group claimed the slaughter Saturday of 49 new Iraqi soldiers, which the government is investigating amid fears the attackers infiltrated the security forces -- a frequent target of the insurgency.
The US military said it bombed a rebel safe house in the northeast of Fallujah in the hunt for the Jordanian-born Zarqawi and his followers who are believed to use the city as an operating base.
"Multiple sources reported that a known associate of the Zarqawi network was present at the time of the strike," the army said in a statement.
Hospital sources reported no casualties, however, while witnesses said five empty houses were targeted in the bombardment.
Three days ago, the US military said it captured a top member of the Zarqawi network, but has yet to reveal further details.
American and Iraqi forces have set their sights on returning control of the Sunni Muslim bastion west of Baghdad to the interim Iraqi government ahead of national elections promised by January.
A joint US-Iraqi force of about 1,000 has surrounded Fallujah for almost two weeks as US warplanes pound suspected Zarqawi hideouts on a near daily basis.
The aerial bombardments and threat of an all-out military offensive, however, have prompted many residents to flee the city and raised concerns among humanitarian organisations for the welfare of those who stay behind.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has pledged to restore stability to the country in time for the landmark elections, but his efforts are persistently undermined in a plague of violence.
Underlining the fears of bomb-making material falling into the wrong hands, the scandal over 350 tonnes of high explosives lost or looted shortly after last year's US-led invasion in Iraq rumbled on.
The issue moved to centre-stage of the US presidential election race with barely a week to go, as Democrat challenger John Kerry condemned what he called a "great blunder" by the administration of President George W. Bush.
On the ground, four car bombs ripped through Iraq's main northern city of Mosul, two of which targeted US patrols, the US army said.
There were no US injuries but hospital officials said two Iraqis suffered gunshot wounds.
Car bombs are a favourite tool in a bloody insurgency that has ravaged the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year, targeting US and Iraqi security forces as well as local officials.
In further unrest, one policeman was killed and seven other people wounded in two roadside bombs in Baquba, where attackers also shot dead a member of Diyala provincial council as he drove past in a car. A guard was also killed.
Diyala province is where 52 army recruits and drivers were gunned down execution-style on Saturday in an attack that has sparked questions about whether the perpetrators received inside help.
"These cowardly and treacherous actions will not stop our fighters of the courageous army from carrying on to purify the soil of Iraq from the criminal and terrorist groups," the defence ministry said.
"As we condemn this criminal action, we promise our patient people to make the criminal terrorists get the fair punishment for their crimes against our people."
As well as laying claim to the slaughter, Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda Group of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers (a term for Iraq) also claimed Australia's first wounded-in-action of the conflict.
A car bomb exploded Monday in Baghdad as an Australian convoy drove by, killing three Iraqis and wounding 16 other people, including three Australian soldiers.
Separately, a group of newly-arrived British soldiers came under small arms fire near Iraq's largest southern city of Basra, but no one was harmed, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Jordan announced the release of one of its nationals who had been kidnapped in Iraq and threatened with death unless his family paid a 150,000-dollar ransom.
10/26/2004 - 15:43 GMT - AFP