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U.S. forces attack key areas in Fallujah

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| Tuesday, November 9, 2004 1:01 AM CST | () comments

LOS ANGELES TIMES

FALLUJAH, Iraq � Ten thousand U.S. troops and more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers in tanks and on foot attacked this insurgent stronghold Monday night in a long-planned offensive aimed at ending guerrilla control of the city.

The attack, expected to be the largest battle since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, began just past nightfall after a daylong barrage of air and artillery strikes.

The main line of assault was to the north of Fallujah, where two Marine-Army combat teams of more than 3,000 men each pressed the offensive in a steady, chilling downpour. Other American forces and British troops sealed off other exits of retreat.

Marines entering from the northeastern Askari neighborhood encountered heavy resistance as insurgents responded with rockets, mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

At a mosque, a cleric called on militants to fight back. "God is greatest, oh martyrs!" he called out in a booming voice broadcast through loudspeakers. "Rise up mujahedeen!"

Waiting at a traffic circle for orders to advance further, Marine Staff Sgt. Dennis Nash said: "The most important thing is that we gained a foothold in Fallujah and we didn't experience casualties. From here on out, it's a house-to-house fight."

Army Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, said there would likely be a "major confrontation" as an estimated 3,000 insurgents fall back into the center of the city in the face of the American push.

Military experts said the battle could last days or weeks. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the purpose of the attack was to tame the city and end all battles there.

The attack on Fallujah was approved by Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who declared a 24-hour curfew in Fallujah starting at 6 p.m. as the majority of the 10,000 U.S. troops massed outside the city began to enter, moving across a set of railroad tracks and into insurgent-held neighborhoods.