Military: One Strike Hit Crew Planting Roadside Bomb

American warplanes and helicopters bombed and strafed two Iraqi villages over the weekend, killing approximately 70 people identified as insurgents, according to the military. Witnesses said 39 of those killed in the attacks were civilians.

Saturday, a crowd had gathered around the wreckage of a US military vehicle destroyed by a roadside bomb in the village of Ramadi -- an incident that left five American soldiers dead -- when a flight of F-15s bombed the area, killing approximately 20 people. The Pentagon said the crowd was in the process of planting another roadside bomb when it was hit by the Strike Eagles.

In the village of Al-Bu Faraj, a group of armed insurgents fired on a Cobra attack helicopter Sunday, according to the military, then ran into a nearby house. The Cobra returned fire, killing ten men. Then an F/A-18 bombed the house, killing another 40 people, according to reports from Iraq. Witnesses said 14 of the dead were civilians.

The air attacks came one day after Iraqis went to the polls to ratify a new national constitution.

FMI: www.centcom.mil