US storms into Fallujah

2004-11-08 10:57

Near Fallujah, Iraq - Black smoke plumed into the air around the west of Fallujah on Monday where US and Iraqi forces seized a hospital and two bridges as warplanes pounded the rebel enclave and gunfire thundered from inside.

A sizeable unit of US marines coupled with some specially-trained Iraqi troops were poised on the outskirts of the city, waiting to enter if given the go-ahead by the interim government, an AFP reporter embedded with the marines said.

Keen to put an Iraqi face on the mission to reclaim the Sunni Muslim bastion from rebel hands, the US military says local troops are a vital asset as they know the terrain and can identify the foreign fighters believed to have turned Fallujah into an operating base.

The special force, known as Shahwanis "can be helpful they can identify foreign accents, tell whether a person is Syrian or Jordanian," said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers, an executive officer with the marines.

"The Iraqis know what is going on there, they give us a flavour of what is unusual," he told AFP.

US commanders estimate that 2 000 to 2 500 fighters, some loyal to Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are inside the city and its surrounding areas, ready to fight.

"The predictions are that they are going to stay and fight us here," said Desgrosseilliers.

The military believes that another 10 000 men could join in the battle.

Demonstrating their determination in the face of the enormous US and Iraqi military force, machinegun fire erupted from Fallujah since the early morning as US warplanes pounded suspected fighter positions.

'Precision engagements'

"There are aircraft carrying out precision engagements inside the city on identified enemy positions," said Desgrosseilliers.

In what might mark the beginning of a major offensive to reclaim Fallujah, Iraqi special forces stormed the main hospital on the western edge of the city at about 02:00, blindfolding some people and kicking down some doors.

Hospital director Dr Salih al-Issawi told AFP that troops surrounding the hospital had warned the staff over loudspeakers not to leave the building. He also said they refused to allow him and others to go into the centre of Fallujah to help out at a medical facility that had been set up there.

The hospital, the largest in the city, is located on the western side on the banks of the Euphrates, which separates it from the centre, leaving just three clinics to deal with any local wounded or dead if full-scale fighting erupts.

A US commander said marines also took control of two bridges spanning the Euphrates in the southwest of Fallujah, while a large white observation balloon was seen hovering above.

Some 20,000 US and Iraqi troops are gathered around the city, west of Baghdad, awaiting for Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to instruct them to charge or stand down as he battles to restore order in the country ahead of January elections.

- AFP