Three people have been killed and five others injured in renewed US air strikes on the Iraqi city of Falluja, while fierce clashes erupted on the ground. At the eastern gate, US forces backed by tanks, and armed fighters are engaged in heavy clashes. There is no immediate word on casualties. More than 1000 US soldiers and Iraqi forces have surrounded the city, Aljazeera has learned. US jets struck several sites in al-Sinaai, al-Juhaivi and al-Askari neighbourhoods on Sunday. Tanks positioned at the northeastern gate of the city are bombing houses in al-Juhaivi area, an Iraqi journalist told Aljazeera. The journalist said ambulances were unable to reach the targeted areas. Falluja hospital officials also said US artillery shells fell on a house in Halabsa village, 16km southwest of the city, on Saturday, killing a three-year-old girl and injuring four family members. Several homes have been demolished in the city, a Falluja resident in the city, Muhammad Abd al-Aziz told Aljazeera. "US helicopters and armoured vehicles are bombing the city in an attempt to destroy its infrastructure, with no consideration as to whether its targets are resistance fighters or citizens," Abd al-Aziz said. **'Al-Zarqawi target'*** Iraq's US-backed interim government has warned that it will launch a major offensive in Falluja if the city does not hand over al-Qaida-linked Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers. Falluja representatives say they have seen no evidence that al-Zarqawi is holed up in the city. Abd al-Aziz said talks between Falluja citizens and the interim government had been suspended. "Falluja citizens want to live peacefully," he said. "However, it seems the Bush administration has ordered those fulfilling its policies in Iraq to escalate the situation and lay down unacceptable and inapplicable conditions." Referring to the US demand for al-Zarqawi to "be handed over", Abd al-Aziz asked: "Which of the city's citizens could do something the US forces, its intelligence and allies, and the Iraqi interim government have all failed to do?" **Basra blast*** Elsewhere in Iraq, a civilian convoy was hit by a roadside bomb on Sunday in the southern city of Basra. The bomb hit a convoy of four cars at around 9am (0600GMT), seriously injuring one man, said Basra police Lieutenant Colonel Karim al-Zaidi. Military spokesman Major Charlie Mayo confirmed that a contractor was injured and taken to a nearby British military hospital. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A three-year old girl was killed in US air strikes on Saturday. (Al-Jazeera)