More than 1,000 insurgents have been captured in the weeklong offensive in Falluja, and U.S. and Iraqi government forces have now secured 100 percent of the rebellious Iraqi city, a Marine officer said on Monday. Col. Michael Regner, operations officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Falluja, said at least 1,052 insurgents had been taken prisoner in the city. No more than about two dozen of them are from outside Iraq, Regner told reporters at the Pentagon by telephone from Falluja. The U.S. military previously estimated about 500 insurgents had been taken prisoner in Falluja, a city of about 300,000 located 30 miles (50 km) west of the capital Baghdad. Regner also said that "somewhere over 1,000" insurgents had been killed in the offensive to take control of the city, but did not give a precise number.U.S. commanders last week estimated there were 2,000-3,000 insurgents holed up in Falluja at the start of the offensive, which began Nov. 8. He added that 38 U.S. troops had been killed and 320 wounded in the operation, with 134 of the wounded returning to duty after being treated. Six Iraqi government troops also have been killed and 28 wounded, Regner added. Regner said U.S. forces and Iraqi security troops now "can go anywhere at any time throughout that city." "A hundred percent of the city is secure," Regner said, but added that Marines were still involved in fighting in portions of the city and were sweeping house-to-house to clear Falluja of remaining insurgents.
U.S. commanders have acknowledged that some of the senior leaders of the insurgency they had hoped to corner in Falluja had escaped before the offensive began, probably including al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Regner said some may have sought refuge in Ramadi, 70 miles (110 km) west of Baghdad. Regner said the U.S. military had two battalions in Ramadi. He did not give the total number of U.S. troops there, but battalions can number up to about 1,000. "Do we control Ramadi? Yes, we control it. But, again, it is not at this time a clear city," free of insurgents, Regner said.