Baghdad, Iraq ? U.S. warplanes unleashed devastating airstrikes Monday on a suspected hideout where operatives from an al-Qaida-linked group were meeting.

The United States claimed success, but images of reported civilian casualties threatened to further enrage the country’s Sunni Muslim population.

In the aftermath, the familiar conflicting reports emerged. The military lauded what it called a successful strike on the network of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant thought to be behind a wave of car bombings, abductions and other attacks.

But officials in Fallujah decried what they said was the killing of innocent civilians. Ten houses were destroyed, at least 16 civilians were killed and more than 20 others were injured, officials reported.

Neither account could be independently confirmed.

Fallujah is considered the heart of Iraq’s Sunni-led insurgency, which has stymied U.S.-led reconstruction efforts and thwarted the interim government. Unable to enter the town since the spring, U.S. forces have turned to an intense bombing campaign. The strategy seems to straddle the thin line between hurting the insurgency and enraging Iraqis.

“Every time, they justify it by saying they are striking militants, but there are never any militants killed,” Sheik Ahmed Abdel Ghafour, a leading member of the Muslim Scholars Association, said Monday on Al Arabiya, an Arab-language television network.

U.S. authorities have disclosed little about the effectiveness of the bombing runs, but on Sunday several high-ranking Marine officers described the campaign as a great success and confirmed that Zarqawi was a target.

Hostage beheaded

Also Monday, a videotape purporting to show the beheading of a Turkish truck driver kidnapped last month in Iraq surfaced Monday on the Web site of Zarqawi’s group.

On the video, the victim identifies himself as Durmus Kumdereli. Speaking in Turkish, he says he was transporting goods to an American military base in Mosul.

Afterward, a black screen reading “the execution” appears, followed by warnings from masked, armed militants to foreign drivers, and grisly footage of the beheading.

The authenticity of the video, which was digitally dated Aug. 17, could not be verified.

Bush wants to shift funds

The Bush administration wants to spend more Iraqi reconstruction money than planned to bolster security, speed economic recovery and forgive some of that country’s debt, according to documents it sent to Congress on Monday.

Overall, the administration wants permission to shift $3.46 billion of the $18.4 billion that Congress provided last fall to rebuild Iraq. Because of constraints lawmakers imposed when they originally approved the funds, the White House could shift only $800 million without Congress’ approval.

The request underscores how the insurrection that has rocked Iraq for months has forced President Bush and Congress to rethink their initial plans for restoring the country’s economy, society and political institutions.