FOXNews.com - Top Stories - U.S. Forces Battle Gunmen in Fallujah A U.S. Cobra attack helicopter fired rockets and heavy machine guns before dawn at gunmen gathered on the northern edge of Fallujah. Rocket-propelled grenades streamed up toward the helicopter and a second gunship providing support, but none apparently hit their target.
Early Wednesday, an A-130 gunship pounded a row of buildings from which Marines say ambushes have repeatedly been launched in a residential area.
Gunmen repeatedly attacked one house in Fallujah that the Marines were using. At least 12 gunmen were killed in two nights of attacks.
Many — but not all — residents have fled neighborhoods around the Marine positions. Marines have taken over abandoned houses and use sledgehammers to bash through walls and move between houses without exposing themselves to fire.
Marines fought fierce battles Monday and Tuesday with insurgents in Karma, a village outside Fallujah. Some 100 gunmen were killed in battles in palm groves and over canals that were so intense that wounded Marines were sent to rejoin the fight.
"They ran in there with bandages and all," said Col. B.P. McCoy, commander of the 3rd Battalion.
Marines came under two heavy ambushes Tuesday, the best coordinated and largest guerrilla operations in days, said Capt. James Edge. Two Marines were killed Tuesday and two Monday, the military said.
A force of 20 insurgents attacked a Marine position in a residential neighborhood of Fallujah, then damaged an armored vehicle that came to support it, Edge said. A fierce battle followed to extract the vehicle as F-15s overhead fired on gunmen.
Outside the city, an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter was hit by ground fire early Tuesday. A Marine team that came to secure it was ambushed and suffered casualties.
The Marines called a halt to offensive operations Friday to allow negotiations between U.S.-allied Iraqis and Fallujah representatives. Gunmen in the city called a cease-fire Sunday, but Marines have been responding to guerrilla fire — and striking gunmen who appear about to attack.
Insurgents Wednesday offered the Iraqi equivalent of $7,000 for anyone who kills Mouwafak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, after he called for Fallujah residents to hand over militants to the United States.
In the south, Iraqi politicians and ayatollahs tried to negotiate a solution to avert a U.S. attack on Najaf, home to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.
Al-Sadr, was holed up in his office in Najaf, shielded not only by gunmen but by the presence of the city's main shrine only yards away. He vowed to continue what he called "a popular revolution" to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Early Wednesday, an A-130 gunship pounded a row of buildings from which Marines say ambushes have repeatedly been launched in a residential area.
Gunmen repeatedly attacked one house in Fallujah that the Marines were using. At least 12 gunmen were killed in two nights of attacks.
Many — but not all — residents have fled neighborhoods around the Marine positions. Marines have taken over abandoned houses and use sledgehammers to bash through walls and move between houses without exposing themselves to fire.
Marines fought fierce battles Monday and Tuesday with insurgents in Karma, a village outside Fallujah. Some 100 gunmen were killed in battles in palm groves and over canals that were so intense that wounded Marines were sent to rejoin the fight.
"They ran in there with bandages and all," said Col. B.P. McCoy, commander of the 3rd Battalion.
Marines came under two heavy ambushes Tuesday, the best coordinated and largest guerrilla operations in days, said Capt. James Edge. Two Marines were killed Tuesday and two Monday, the military said.
A force of 20 insurgents attacked a Marine position in a residential neighborhood of Fallujah, then damaged an armored vehicle that came to support it, Edge said. A fierce battle followed to extract the vehicle as F-15s overhead fired on gunmen.
Outside the city, an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter was hit by ground fire early Tuesday. A Marine team that came to secure it was ambushed and suffered casualties.
The Marines called a halt to offensive operations Friday to allow negotiations between U.S.-allied Iraqis and Fallujah representatives. Gunmen in the city called a cease-fire Sunday, but Marines have been responding to guerrilla fire — and striking gunmen who appear about to attack.
Insurgents Wednesday offered the Iraqi equivalent of $7,000 for anyone who kills Mouwafak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, after he called for Fallujah residents to hand over militants to the United States.
In the south, Iraqi politicians and ayatollahs tried to negotiate a solution to avert a U.S. attack on Najaf, home to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.
Al-Sadr, was holed up in his office in Najaf, shielded not only by gunmen but by the presence of the city's main shrine only yards away. He vowed to continue what he called "a popular revolution" to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
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