Baghdad, Sept 13, SPA -- U.S. warplanes pounded a hideout of suspected militants in Fallujah on Monday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 12, officials and witnesses said. Thestrike came a day after a surge in violence killed 78people across Iraq. The U.S. military said jets carried out a precision strikeon a site in Fallujah where several members of a group ledby Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were meeting. "Intelligence sources reported the presence of severalkey al-Zarqawi operatives who have been responsible fornumerous terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians, IraqiSecurity Forces and multinational forces," the militarysaid in a statement. The military said reports indicated the strikes hadachieved their aim, but did not name the operatives. Witnesses said the bombing targeted the city's residentialal-Shurta neighborhood, damaging buildings and raisingclouds of black smoke. Dr. Adel Khamis of the Fallujah General Hospital said atleast 16 people were killed, including women and children,and 12 others wounded. An ambulance rushing from the areaof the blasts was hit by a shell, killing the driver, aparamedic and five patients inside the vehicle, said another hospital official, Hamid Salaman. "The conditions here are miserable _ an ambulance wasbombed, three houses destroyed and men and women killed,"the hospital's director, Rafayi Hayad al-Esawi, toldpan-Arab Al-Jazeera television by telephone.--SPA1332 Local Time 1032 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/201024