'1/3 of Fallujah is ours' - US
2004-11-09 14:53
Fallujah - United States and Iraqi troops on Tuesday seized control of the northern third of Fallujah, a high-ranking marine officer said, less than 24 hours after the launch of an all-out assault on the rebel Iraqi city.
"The military controls one third of the city," the officer said, confirming that it was the northern part believed to be a stronghold for the insurgents in the city.
Thousands of US troops, followed by crack Iraqi soldiers, poured into the north-western Jolan neighbourhood and the Askari district in the north-east in a two-pronged assault that started late Monday.
The action, the biggest military operation since the US-led war in March last year, came after Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gave the nod for a full-scale offensive.
The troops faced resistance at the beginning but it soon faded, another senior military official said.
They seized Fallujah's train station in the north-east and carried on pushing towards the centre, correspondents embedded with the military said.
- AFP