Yahoo! News - U.S. Faces Tough Urban Battle in Fallujah: "FALLUJAH, Iraq - In a narrow alley, Marines pinned down by a hail of guerrilla fire sent up red smoke in a cry for help. Tanks pounded shell after shell into houses, while troops on the city's edge crawled forward on their bellies, firing on insurgents.
U.S. forces faced a tough urban battle Tuesday in their drive to pacify one of Iraq (news - web sites)'s most dangerous cities. Block by block, they fought their way into Fallujah, where Iraqi guerrillas killed four American civilians and a mob mutilated their bodies last week.
After nightfall, troops held a swath several blocks deep in one corner of the city of 200,000, Marine Maj. Briandon McGolwan said.
U.S. forces called out a weapon rarely used against the Iraqi guerrillas: the AC-130 gunship, a warplane that circles over a target, laying down a devastating barrage of heavy machine gun fire."
>>> Near the Americans, guerrilla mortars exploded, sending sand flying, and bullets whizzed over their heads.
"Insurgents usually fire and run. This time they're digging in, which is the first time we've seen them do that," Ebert said.
Hundreds of Marines moved into the neighborhood, seizing buildings to use as positions against the insurgents and in some cases climbing to the rooftops. Some helicopters were hit with small arms, but not shot down.
The gunmen "use lots of hit-and-run tactics. They ambush a lot and it is more tough for us to fight that way because we don't want to injure civilians," Marine Capt. Kyle Staddard said.
McGolwan said U.S. troops have captured 14 insurgents since Monday in the area.
Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, has long been a bastion of the Sunni Muslim guerrillas. Support for the insurgency is strong — and hatred of the U.S.-led occupation is widespread, as evidenced by the cheering Iraqis who dragged the four Americans' burned bodies through the streets a week ago.
On Fallujah's outskirts, one Iraqi farmer just wanted to be able to reach his gardens, now in an area blocked by U.S. forces.
"The Americans, by coming here, have harmed us," said Ahmad Mashhan. "We are not armed people and we are not terrorists but we are suffering from the siege."
Asked how long it would take to seize the whole city, the Marines' McGolwan replied: "As long as it takes."
U.S. forces faced a tough urban battle Tuesday in their drive to pacify one of Iraq (news - web sites)'s most dangerous cities. Block by block, they fought their way into Fallujah, where Iraqi guerrillas killed four American civilians and a mob mutilated their bodies last week.
After nightfall, troops held a swath several blocks deep in one corner of the city of 200,000, Marine Maj. Briandon McGolwan said.
U.S. forces called out a weapon rarely used against the Iraqi guerrillas: the AC-130 gunship, a warplane that circles over a target, laying down a devastating barrage of heavy machine gun fire."
>>> Near the Americans, guerrilla mortars exploded, sending sand flying, and bullets whizzed over their heads.
"Insurgents usually fire and run. This time they're digging in, which is the first time we've seen them do that," Ebert said.
Hundreds of Marines moved into the neighborhood, seizing buildings to use as positions against the insurgents and in some cases climbing to the rooftops. Some helicopters were hit with small arms, but not shot down.
The gunmen "use lots of hit-and-run tactics. They ambush a lot and it is more tough for us to fight that way because we don't want to injure civilians," Marine Capt. Kyle Staddard said.
McGolwan said U.S. troops have captured 14 insurgents since Monday in the area.
Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, has long been a bastion of the Sunni Muslim guerrillas. Support for the insurgency is strong — and hatred of the U.S.-led occupation is widespread, as evidenced by the cheering Iraqis who dragged the four Americans' burned bodies through the streets a week ago.
On Fallujah's outskirts, one Iraqi farmer just wanted to be able to reach his gardens, now in an area blocked by U.S. forces.
"The Americans, by coming here, have harmed us," said Ahmad Mashhan. "We are not armed people and we are not terrorists but we are suffering from the siege."
Asked how long it would take to seize the whole city, the Marines' McGolwan replied: "As long as it takes."
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