Insurgents pounded a US base with mortar rounds near the flash point city of Fallujah on Thursday, witnesses told Xinhua.

"Unknown militants struck a US military base near the Ameriyat al-Fallujah town, 7 km south of Fallujah," the witnesses said on condition of anonymity.

"Flames and black smoke rose over the base," said the local residents.

The US troops fired back randomly at the town, destroying a civilian car and wounding its driver, they said, adding that the US troops also blocked the main road leading to the town.

On Wednesday, the US troops were apparently preparing for a military action as tensions rose in the city of Fallujah after insurgents intensified attacks against US and Iraqi army forces.

The Sunni-dominated Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, has witnessed sporadic insurgent attacks against the US and Iraqi government forces despite US-Iraqi military operations in the city to stamp out insurgency.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2006)