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09/11/2004
Coalition forces push further into Fallujah
US forces are pushing further into Fallujah and have gained control over the northern third of the city, according to news agencies.
On the second day of the assault, the 15-strong coalition force has been met with pockets of strong resistance from militants armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. However, US sources have voiced surprise that some potential hotspots – particularly around the Jolan district – were more fiercely defended.
It has been common knowledge for some weeks now that an assault was coming – time which has been used by the coalition to shut off Fallujah, and by the city's defenders to prepare booby-traps and fortify strongpoints.
Around 80% of the 250,000-strong population has fled the area, and it has been estimated that 2,500 militants were inside the city prior to the start of the fighting.
It has been reported that 14 US troops have died over the past 24 hours. However, it is not clear how many Iraqis have been killed inside Fallujah. Some observers have said that nature of the overwhelming force being deployed – in the form of air strikes, artillery, tank and heavy machine gun fire – can only mean casualties will be high.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Secretary of State, Colin Powell pledged that US forces in the area would do everything possible to minimise loss of civilian life.
He also said that it was time to deal with Fallujah as it had become a "magnet for terrorists and a source of instability in the Sunni Triangle".
He added: "I wouldn't say that this is the final battle or only battle or single defining moment. There will be many defining moments. We had a defining moment in Najaf a few weeks ago. We had a defining moment in Samara. And as you see, we've subsequently had additional action in Samarra but it is part of a process of restoring control of the Iraqi Interim Government over all the cities of Iraq: the south is reasonably stable; the north is stable; Sunni Triangle is a problem and Fallujah is the centre of the problem in the Sunni Triangle."
Speaking in the house of Commons last night, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that in order to secure a democratic Iraq the coalition had to "hold firm, be resolute and see this through, including in Fallujah".
"The action by allied and Iraqi forces underway in Fallujah would cease now, immediately, if the terrorists and insurgents who are using Fallujah as a base for terrorism would lay down their weapons and agree to participate in the elections," he said.
"They [militants] know that whilst Fallujah remains outside the control of the UN-endorsed government they can use it to wreck elections. And why do the terrorists fear elections? Because they know that given the chance to vote for their government, Iraqis would reject the extremism and fanaticism the terrorists represent."
(gmcg/mb)
On the second day of the assault, the 15-strong coalition force has been met with pockets of strong resistance from militants armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. However, US sources have voiced surprise that some potential hotspots – particularly around the Jolan district – were more fiercely defended.
It has been common knowledge for some weeks now that an assault was coming – time which has been used by the coalition to shut off Fallujah, and by the city's defenders to prepare booby-traps and fortify strongpoints.
Around 80% of the 250,000-strong population has fled the area, and it has been estimated that 2,500 militants were inside the city prior to the start of the fighting.
It has been reported that 14 US troops have died over the past 24 hours. However, it is not clear how many Iraqis have been killed inside Fallujah. Some observers have said that nature of the overwhelming force being deployed – in the form of air strikes, artillery, tank and heavy machine gun fire – can only mean casualties will be high.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Secretary of State, Colin Powell pledged that US forces in the area would do everything possible to minimise loss of civilian life.
He also said that it was time to deal with Fallujah as it had become a "magnet for terrorists and a source of instability in the Sunni Triangle".
He added: "I wouldn't say that this is the final battle or only battle or single defining moment. There will be many defining moments. We had a defining moment in Najaf a few weeks ago. We had a defining moment in Samara. And as you see, we've subsequently had additional action in Samarra but it is part of a process of restoring control of the Iraqi Interim Government over all the cities of Iraq: the south is reasonably stable; the north is stable; Sunni Triangle is a problem and Fallujah is the centre of the problem in the Sunni Triangle."
Speaking in the house of Commons last night, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that in order to secure a democratic Iraq the coalition had to "hold firm, be resolute and see this through, including in Fallujah".
"The action by allied and Iraqi forces underway in Fallujah would cease now, immediately, if the terrorists and insurgents who are using Fallujah as a base for terrorism would lay down their weapons and agree to participate in the elections," he said.
"They [militants] know that whilst Fallujah remains outside the control of the UN-endorsed government they can use it to wreck elections. And why do the terrorists fear elections? Because they know that given the chance to vote for their government, Iraqis would reject the extremism and fanaticism the terrorists represent."
(gmcg/mb)
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