Meanwhile in Samarra, a major assault led by the U.S. has left at least 150 Iraqis dead including many women and children. Scores were injured and 88 people have been detained. The offensive began on Thursday when 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops invaded the city held by the Iraqi resistance. U.S. and Iraqi forces are now saying they have secured 70 percent of the city following one of the largest offensives in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad. The U.S. admitted at least 10 percent of the casualties were civilians, but local hospital officials said the percentage is much higher. Of the 70 dead brought to Samarra’s General Hospital, officials reported 23 were children and 18 were women. The BBC reports that witnesses in the center of Samarra are reporting U.S. snipers are shooting at anyone who appears on the streets. Many buildings in the city’s commercial district are reportedly riddled with bullets or partially destroyed. The streets are littered with burnt out vehicles. The influential Sunni group Committee of Muslim Scholars called the U.S.-led attack a “massacre” and warned against the U.S. plan to invade other cities held by the resistance before the scheduled January elections. A spokesperson for the group said “Who is going to respect elections paved by the blood of Iraqis and built on their skulls?” Meanwhile in Fallujah, nightly air strikes continued throughout the weekend.