U.S. forces went on the offensive against concentrations of militants in southern Fallujah who tried to break out of a security cordon, as guerrillas launched attacks in another one of Iraq's major cities in what could be a bid to relieve pressure on their allies. By Friday, U.S. army and marine units had pushed deeper into the southern reaches of Fallujah, backed by FA-18s and AC-130 gunships, as they sought to corner insurgents. With insurgent fire cover from nearby buildings, some three to four dozen militants tried to break out of the security cordon to the south and east of the city late Thursday but were pushed back by U.S. troops, the military said. U.S. forces are also positioned to the west near key bridges, blocking rebels from crossing the Euphrates River with patrol boats.
As night fell Thursday, U.S. soldiers and marines attacked south of the main east-west highway that bisects Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim insurgent stronghold 65 kilometres west of Baghdad. An Iraqi journalist in the city reported seeing burned U.S. vehicles and bodies in the street, with more buried under the wreckage. He said two men trying to move a corpse were shot by a sniper. Two of the three small clinics in the city have been bombed and in one case, medical staff and patients were killed, he said. A U.S. tank was positioned beside the third clinic and residents were afraid to go there, he said. "People are afraid of even looking out the window because of snipers," he said, asking he not be named for his own safety. "The Americans are shooting anything that moves."
Many, if not most, of Fallujah's 200,000 to 300,000 residents fled the city before the assault. It is impossible to determine how many civilians who were not actively fighting the Americans or assisting the insurgents may have been killed. Most of the insurgents still fighting in Fallujah are believed to have fallen back to southern districts ahead of the advancing U.S. and Iraqi forces, although fierce clashes were reported in the west of the city around the public market. U.S. officers said the majority of the insurgent mortar and machine-gun fire Thursday was directed at U.S. military units forming a cordon around the city to prevent guerrillas from slipping away. Officers said that suggested the insurgents were trying to break out of Fallujah rather than defend it. |