Reporters' log: Battle for Falluja - From BBC
US forces storm the main hospital in the city of Falluja
US and Iraqi forces are continuing their assault against insurgents in the city of Falluja after the final order for the attack was given by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
BBC correspondents in the region as well as in Washington and London bring you the latest updates on the attack. Where stated, some correspondents are embedded with US troops.
Quil Lawrence :: EMBED with US forces in Falluja :: 0935GMT
I'm just across the river on the west side of the city near the main hospital, seized by the US and Iraqis two nights ago. The marines are advancing and I can track their progress by the small arms fire. Black smoke is rising where buildings have been hit.
EMBEDDED REPORTERS
They can give general troop strength and casualty figures
They can report numbers of enemy POWs
They can give broad information about previous combat actions
Journalists cannot give specific details of locations
They cannot reveal the future plans of their unit
I've heard comments saying the operation is going a little quicker and is a little rougher than expected. I can't say how many numbers of insurgents the forces have met - but there were skirmishes this morning and they're taking sniper fire at the moment.
I heard some artillery a few minutes ago. At first I thought we were being shelled but it was shooting at an apartment.
The US soldiers have been gearing up for this for a long time. They seem almost excited to be getting there - some were preparing by listening to heavy metal music and one soldier told me it made it seem a bit more like a video game.
Jennifer Glasse :: EMBED with US forces at Falluja :: 0910GMT
I think the operation is going about as planned. The marines were expecting resistance and the insurgents have had months to prepare for this. This kind of fighting is always complicated.
The military is reluctant to talk about those killed or injured. We know 10 marines were injured in the early fighting, but the marines don't give out details because they don't want to help the insurgents to refine their attacks.
I don't think this will be an easy job but it's in the forces' best interests to get this over with. They don't want to alienate the population. However, they have been using homes as shelters and the only way they can do this is to use heavy weaponry, and this means destroying buildings.
But the people returning would like to have a city to return to and that's why this is such a tricky task. It will be up to the insurgents what kind of battle they fight. This could be their last stand or they might continue to try to attack the forces wherever and whenever they can.
Jennifer Glasse :: EMBED with US forces at Falluja :: 0846GMT
The marines are trying to move forward into Falluja after a fierce night of fighting. They're moving street by street. In some cases, going house to house, looking for insurgents.
The US forces are trying to operate under their rules of engagement and are trying to avoid taking civilian lives.
It's a tricky situation because the fight is active and they will return punishing fire if they are being fired upon. This must be a very terrifying situation for civilians caught nearby.
The troops I'm with say the insurgents have been intimidating the inhabitants of Falluja for many months now there are claims that some civilians are being used as human shields.
Alastair Leithead :: Baghdad :: 0827GMT
The first shockwaves from the assault on Falluja have struck Baquba - another city in the Sunni triangle, where police stations have been targeted by guerrilla fighters.
US forces are slowly pushing their way into Falluja
There are reports of a number of police officers being killed or wounded by insurgents, attacking police stations with gunfire and rocket propelled grenades.
Also in Kirkuk, a suicide bomber blew up his car at a National Guard base in the city. There were some reported fatalities.
And here in Baghdad, the largest Sunni Muslim political party has withdrawn from the interim government in a protest against the attack on Fallujah. The Iraqi Islamic party has pulled its minister of industry from the cabinet.
It's a symbolic move but one which will be a blow to the interim government as it tries to encourage as many groups as possible to take part in the elections planned for January.
Paul Wood :: EMBED with US forces near Falluja :: 0814GMT
It's already apparent that marines are having to fight every step of the way into Falluja.
The battalion I'm with went in to the city 12 hours ago and has managed to get a kilometre into the city. That shows every street, almost every house, is being contested.
What they're facing is insurgents darting out, firing at them and a lot of artillery has been called in to support their efforts.
The drive is still going on now. Twelve hours after the initial first wave went in, there is still the sound of heavy fire emanating from Falluja.
It's believed that dozens, if not more than 100 insurgents have been killed. Meanwhile the marines say they have reached one of their first objectives - the largest mosque in Falluja.
They say this is used as a meeting place for leaders of the insurgency. They claim it is heavily fortified and an arms cache and that people who work with the coalition, and are caught by the insurgents, are taken there and killed.
They're now wondering if they'll find bodies when they go in.
Paul Wood :: EMBED with US forces near Falluja :: 0528GMT
More than 12 hours after the assault began, the sounds of battle are still constant from Falluja.
Overnight the battalion I'm with, the 1-8, took its first serious casualties as the marines advanced street by street, clearing out gangs of insurgents armed with rocket propelled grenades.
Companies from the 1-8 have now advanced one kilometre into Falluja. They are now at the al-Hyderi mosque and are preparing to storm it along with Iraqi troops who will actually take possession of this sensitive site.
The marines' intelligence officer said the al-Hyderi mosque - one of the biggest in Falluja - was used as a meeting place for leaders of the insurgency and had both weapons and armed men inside
The marines also believe that Iraqis suspected of working with the coalition are taken to al-Hyderi, tortured and killed.
Quil Lawrence :: EMBED with US forces near Falluja :: 0510GMT
I am standing on the top of a bombed-out building just across the river, maybe 200 or 300 metres from Falluja.
Right now I am seeing extremely intense fire fights within the city.
We've seen helicopter gunships swooping in and firing missiles at targets.
At the moment we are receiving very little fire from across the river to this position.
At the moment it seems that the insurgents within the city have been distracted by a different force.
MONDAY
Paul Wood :: EMBED with US forces near Falluja :: 2205GMT
There are still steady explosions coming from the city, but the intensity of the battle in the early evening has eased slightly.
I am still watching tracer fire going into the city.
But the initial force that has pushed in has now managed to enter, and from the sound of the explosions, seems to have got some way into Falluja.
It has been an evening of heavy air strikes, an evening of tanks rumbling about and several huge explosions, some of which are devices to detonate roadside bombs, and some of which are weapons caches being detonated.
There has been opposition. Several artillery strikes have been called in to deal with roaming groups of men firing rocket-propelled grenades at the tanks.
But that opposition appears to be easing.
One marine officer said to me that their operation is very much on schedule.
Jennifer Glasse :: EMBED with US forces at Falluja :: 2051GMT
US officials say they will not stop until their forces control all of Falluja.
The main thrust of the initial assault on Falluja came from the north of the city, where US and Iraqi forces took the main railway station.
The long-expected offensive then followed from all sides as thousands of American troops, some with Iraqi forces at their sides, moved into Falluja.
US marines and soldiers are inside several parts of the city and are advancing.
Along the way they have encountered explosive booby traps along the roads set by insurgents who have had months to plan for this offensive. US forces were using explosives to detonate the traps.
As forces advanced, Falluja was dark. The sound of artillery, gunfire and US planes overhead punctuated that night-time scene.
US tanks and ground forces are working to move further into the city. They have cut off all roads in and out of Falluja to prevent any insurgents from leaving.
Nick Childs :: The Pentagon :: 1915GMT
The top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, has said he expects the battle to retake the insurgents' stronghold of Falluja will be tough.
Speaking by telephone to Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Baghdad, he said it involved some 10-15,000 US and Iraqi forces with the Americans providing the majority of the forces.
General Casey said mission was codenamed al-Fajr, or dawn - a name which, he said, had been chosen by the Iraqi interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi.
He acknowledged that the fight for Falluja would be a tough one and that there would be other tough fights to follow and while he believed that some of the insurgents may have slipped away, he said others have moved in.
He said he expected them probably to fall back to the centre of the city where there could be what he described as a major confrontation.
General Casey also said he believed some 50-70% of the civilian population had also left the city, although that could still mean perhaps 100,000 remain.
Paul Adams :: BBC News Centre, London :: 1742GMT
We know that a large number of civilians have left the city. Its population is between 250,000 and 300,000 people. The Americans are suggesting that 80 or 90 percent of the population may have left. But it also suits them to say that.
If that is the case, it will make the job that much easier. If they find themselves in a more or less deserted city the battle against the 3,000 to 5,000 militants would make the operation much quicker.
They will want to carry out the operation as quickly as they can and to create as little "collateral damage" as possible. The whole point of this is to deliver the people of Falluja to the elections in January.
Nick Childs :: The Pentagon :: 1719GMT
I don't think anyone is under any illusions there are risks involved in the assault and that the assault on Falluja is a very risky undertaking.
But it is also a balance of risks and the political risks of doing it, the Americans and Mr Allawi feel, are outweighed by the risks of not doing it.
Clearly it was critical that Mr Allawi gave the green light publicly. Part of the strategy is that this is seen to be with the blessing of the interim Iraqi government and crucially Iraqi forces will be taking part.
The great concern here at the Pentagon is that they can win a military victory but lose the political battle because of the images of the assault and potentially high casualties.
Paul Wood :: EMBED with US forces near Falluja :: 1712GMT
The Americans are going in with both infantry and marine rifle companies supported by tanks, and with air power used to a very heavy extent.
We just felt a shock wave through us as what we believe was a few thousand pound bomb was dropped on targets on the perimeter of the city.
We're getting chat coming back over the radio that there is resistance. Put simply, when it shows itself they blow it away it's a simple as that.
The US are going in with overwhelming force. They are going in very quickly. They are going in with assets that the insurgents can't command.
But they do have a healthy respect for their opposition. The company commander here called them "plenty mean and plenty tough".
But he added that they were about to encounter a level of violence they couldn't imagine.
|
