CNN.com - U.S., Iraqi troops move into Falluja's center - Nov 9, 2004
FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi troops reached the heart of Falluja on Tuesday as the second day of battles continued in the militant-controlled city west of Baghdad.
The Pentagon reported 10 U.S. troops were killed in the fighting and 22 wounded.
Nevertheless, U.S. and Iraqi forces have faced less resistance than expected, said Lt. Col. Pete Newell with Task Force 2-2 of the 1st Infantry Division.
Soldiers have dodged sniper fire and destroyed booby traps, but not as many as anticipated.
Insurgent casualty numbers have mounted. Newell said his Army unit has killed or wounded 85 to 90 insurgents.
"Thirty hours into the fighting, Task Force 2-2 and the attached Iraqi intervention force have sustained minimal casualties," Newell said.
Military sources said they were unsure whether they had intercepted the core of the insurgency.
Falluja is considered an insurgent command-and-control center for the rest of the country and a base for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network. (Map of Falluja)
Military officials have said 3,000 to 5,000 insurgents may have been inside the city, but they acknowledge many may have slipped away amid widespread reports that an offensive was coming.
"We believe most of the al-Zarqawi senior leadership has departed," one military source said.
Michael Ware, Time magazine's Baghdad bureau chief embedded with Army Task Force 2-2, described the fighting as street-to-street battles, with sporadic resistance and no signs of organization among the insurgents. Most of the insurgents are in small groups, he said, with the most being 25 in one place.
CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf, also embedded with the same Army unit, watched from an armored vehicle as a firefight broke out.
Arraf reported buildings crumbling from explosions and sheet metal flying like paper but said no one was in sight.
FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi troops reached the heart of Falluja on Tuesday as the second day of battles continued in the militant-controlled city west of Baghdad.
The Pentagon reported 10 U.S. troops were killed in the fighting and 22 wounded.
Nevertheless, U.S. and Iraqi forces have faced less resistance than expected, said Lt. Col. Pete Newell with Task Force 2-2 of the 1st Infantry Division.
Soldiers have dodged sniper fire and destroyed booby traps, but not as many as anticipated.
Insurgent casualty numbers have mounted. Newell said his Army unit has killed or wounded 85 to 90 insurgents.
"Thirty hours into the fighting, Task Force 2-2 and the attached Iraqi intervention force have sustained minimal casualties," Newell said.
Military sources said they were unsure whether they had intercepted the core of the insurgency.
Falluja is considered an insurgent command-and-control center for the rest of the country and a base for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network. (Map of Falluja)
Military officials have said 3,000 to 5,000 insurgents may have been inside the city, but they acknowledge many may have slipped away amid widespread reports that an offensive was coming.
"We believe most of the al-Zarqawi senior leadership has departed," one military source said.
Michael Ware, Time magazine's Baghdad bureau chief embedded with Army Task Force 2-2, described the fighting as street-to-street battles, with sporadic resistance and no signs of organization among the insurgents. Most of the insurgents are in small groups, he said, with the most being 25 in one place.
CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf, also embedded with the same Army unit, watched from an armored vehicle as a firefight broke out.
Arraf reported buildings crumbling from explosions and sheet metal flying like paper but said no one was in sight.
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