U.S. Forces Storm Into Western Fallujah
11-09-04, 04:49 AM
#28
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: puckland
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Was this delayed because of the election? It seems a little strange that it happened so abruptly after the election ended.
Even with the election safely behind, U.S. forces are still being very careful to keep the nastier side of things quiet. For example, the first positions captured included hospitals, ostensibly to prevent them from generating "false reports of civilian casualties".
11-09-04, 01:02 PM
#33
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Posts: 2,816
wow, those are awesome pics. Good luck to the guys in Fallujah.
US forces have been fighting their way through the Jolan and Askari districts in the north of Falluja. There are reports that they have managed to cross the main highway in the heart of the city.
11-14-04, 09:35 PM
#34
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Join Date: Aug 2001
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Posts: 26,196
drudge has a link to a video of the battle as well as a little blurb that 1600 insurgents are thought to have been killed so fast that the streets are littered with bodies.
maybe that was the plan all along? lure them into one place where we can use our military do destroy them.
maybe that was the plan all along? lure them into one place where we can use our military do destroy them.
11-14-04, 10:37 PM
#35
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Join Date: Jan 2001
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FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces have "broken" the opposing forces in Falluja, a U.S. Marine commander said Sunday, but "isolated pockets" of insurgents remain in the restive city -- and have increased their activity elsewhere.
Marines spread through the deserted streets of Falluja, kicking in doors during a dangerous house-to-house search for insurgents -- targets of the U.S.-Iraqi military operation.
The weeklong assault on the city -- 30 miles west of Baghdad -- has killed 1,000 to 2,000 insurgents, Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler said.
In addition, 38 U.S. troops and six Iraqis have been killed, with 275 Americans wounded since operations began November 7, the U.S. military said in a statement. More than 60 of the wounded have returned to duty.
"The Iraqi government, supported by Multi-National Force-Iraq, is taking all necessary steps to meet the humanitarian needs of Fallujah's residents," the statement said. "Adequate quantities of food, water, and medical supplies are on hand and immediately available. Additionally, several non-governmental organizations are on scene providing further support."
Battle casualties received by doctors at the American military hospital in Germany have more than doubled since the Falluja operation began, the facility's commander said Sunday. (Full story)
"As of late last night, we have been in all parts of the city," Sattler told reporters. "We have liberated the city of Falluja."
"The enemy is broken," Sattler said, but troops "have to go back to still isolated pockets" of insurgents.
"If they are trapped and want to fight till death, we have no choice but to accommodate," the general said.
Sattler said the military had about 1,000 people in custody and expected that as many as 700 would be released after interrogation.
Sattler could not identify the nationality of those detained by the Marines, but a U.S. Army commander in the southeastern part of the city -- a stronghold of foreign fighters -- said they had captured five and killed five others.
Lt. Col. Pete Newell, commander of Task Force 2-2 of the 1st Infantry Division, said Iraqi forces found and handed over a Saudi, a Jordanian, a Palestinian and two other non-Iraqis who refused to give their nationalities.
Newell also said soldiers had recovered the bodies of two Syrians, an Afghan, an Egyptian and a Sudanese. The five captured men were wounded, he said.
Sattler accompanied the U.S. Central Command chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid, into the area. Abizaid spoke to many of the Marines and soldiers fighting the battle and told reporters they had "been very effective" in their efforts.
Earlier, Marine Lt. Gen. Richard Natanski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said the assault on Falluja had deprived the insurgents of their "base of operations."
But some insurgents fled Falluja in advance of the assault, and could launch attacks from elsewhere in the country. Before the assault, U.S. officials said it was likely that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among those who fled.
"We don't know where [al-Zarqawi] is right now," Sattler said. "Maybe he's dead; we don't know. But we never focused on him. We focused on ... reinstating the rule of law, which we are in the process of doing, and giving Falluja back to the Fallujan people, which will come fairly soon."
It's unclear how many civilians have been killed or wounded in the airstrikes or heavy ground battles that have gripped the city. Military officials said at least 14 civilians were wounded.
The London-based humanitarian group Amnesty International issued a statement Sunday, saying it feared a "failure by parties to the fighting to take precautions to protect non-combatants."
CNN's Jane Arraf, embedded with the Army, said the city was heavily damaged but that little was leveled, with many houses repairable.
Overnight, U.S. forces dropped four 2,000-pound, bunker-busting bombs on an underground complex used by insurgents, military officials said Sunday.
They said the site was stocked with medical and other supplies, and may be as large as 400 meters by 300 meters (1,300 feet by 1,000 feet) and lined with tunnels.
The military has destroyed similar sites throughout the week.
The United States has said the Falluja operation was aimed -- in large part -- at helping pave the way for elections to take place as scheduled in January.
It's unclear how many civilians remain in Falluja. The city's population was believed to be between 250,000 and 300,000, but U.S. and Iraqi officials estimated that 90 percent fled before the assault.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines reopened a bridge over the Euphrates River in Falluja where Iraqi mobs hanged the burned and mutilated bodies of two American contract workers March 31. The attack sparked the first major U.S. military operation in Falluja, in April.
Marines spread through the deserted streets of Falluja, kicking in doors during a dangerous house-to-house search for insurgents -- targets of the U.S.-Iraqi military operation.
The weeklong assault on the city -- 30 miles west of Baghdad -- has killed 1,000 to 2,000 insurgents, Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler said.
In addition, 38 U.S. troops and six Iraqis have been killed, with 275 Americans wounded since operations began November 7, the U.S. military said in a statement. More than 60 of the wounded have returned to duty.
"The Iraqi government, supported by Multi-National Force-Iraq, is taking all necessary steps to meet the humanitarian needs of Fallujah's residents," the statement said. "Adequate quantities of food, water, and medical supplies are on hand and immediately available. Additionally, several non-governmental organizations are on scene providing further support."
Battle casualties received by doctors at the American military hospital in Germany have more than doubled since the Falluja operation began, the facility's commander said Sunday. (Full story)
"As of late last night, we have been in all parts of the city," Sattler told reporters. "We have liberated the city of Falluja."
"The enemy is broken," Sattler said, but troops "have to go back to still isolated pockets" of insurgents.
"If they are trapped and want to fight till death, we have no choice but to accommodate," the general said.
Sattler said the military had about 1,000 people in custody and expected that as many as 700 would be released after interrogation.
Sattler could not identify the nationality of those detained by the Marines, but a U.S. Army commander in the southeastern part of the city -- a stronghold of foreign fighters -- said they had captured five and killed five others.
Lt. Col. Pete Newell, commander of Task Force 2-2 of the 1st Infantry Division, said Iraqi forces found and handed over a Saudi, a Jordanian, a Palestinian and two other non-Iraqis who refused to give their nationalities.
Newell also said soldiers had recovered the bodies of two Syrians, an Afghan, an Egyptian and a Sudanese. The five captured men were wounded, he said.
Sattler accompanied the U.S. Central Command chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid, into the area. Abizaid spoke to many of the Marines and soldiers fighting the battle and told reporters they had "been very effective" in their efforts.
Earlier, Marine Lt. Gen. Richard Natanski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said the assault on Falluja had deprived the insurgents of their "base of operations."
But some insurgents fled Falluja in advance of the assault, and could launch attacks from elsewhere in the country. Before the assault, U.S. officials said it was likely that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among those who fled.
"We don't know where [al-Zarqawi] is right now," Sattler said. "Maybe he's dead; we don't know. But we never focused on him. We focused on ... reinstating the rule of law, which we are in the process of doing, and giving Falluja back to the Fallujan people, which will come fairly soon."
It's unclear how many civilians have been killed or wounded in the airstrikes or heavy ground battles that have gripped the city. Military officials said at least 14 civilians were wounded.
The London-based humanitarian group Amnesty International issued a statement Sunday, saying it feared a "failure by parties to the fighting to take precautions to protect non-combatants."
CNN's Jane Arraf, embedded with the Army, said the city was heavily damaged but that little was leveled, with many houses repairable.
Overnight, U.S. forces dropped four 2,000-pound, bunker-busting bombs on an underground complex used by insurgents, military officials said Sunday.
They said the site was stocked with medical and other supplies, and may be as large as 400 meters by 300 meters (1,300 feet by 1,000 feet) and lined with tunnels.
The military has destroyed similar sites throughout the week.
The United States has said the Falluja operation was aimed -- in large part -- at helping pave the way for elections to take place as scheduled in January.
It's unclear how many civilians remain in Falluja. The city's population was believed to be between 250,000 and 300,000, but U.S. and Iraqi officials estimated that 90 percent fled before the assault.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines reopened a bridge over the Euphrates River in Falluja where Iraqi mobs hanged the burned and mutilated bodies of two American contract workers March 31. The attack sparked the first major U.S. military operation in Falluja, in April.
11-15-04, 04:01 PM
#41
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Join Date: Aug 2000
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definitely a 50cal, although the caption said 50mm Saser (one: 50mm is way too big for a rifle, and two: while I'm not a 100% expert on military rifles, I've never heard of a Saser) so it's most likely a Barrett http://www.barrettrifles.com/military.htm
the other ones shown are a Dragunov (held by the guy without a helmet) and the sniper version of the M14 which I think is designated M21
the other ones shown are a Dragunov (held by the guy without a helmet) and the sniper version of the M14 which I think is designated M21
11-15-04, 09:07 PM
#44
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: U.S. of A
Posts: 191
Hopefully after taking it we keep it and not immediately move on because it looks they (Insurgents, terrorist) plan on city hopping.
Why would he have a Dragunov, I thought we didn't use those?
Originally posted by mikehunt
the other ones shown are a Dragunov (held by the guy without a helmet) and the sniper version of the M14 which I think is designated M21
the other ones shown are a Dragunov (held by the guy without a helmet) and the sniper version of the M14 which I think is designated M21
11-15-04, 09:55 PM
#45
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry
Posts: 110
Originally posted by Oni$yphon
Why would he have a Dragunov, I thought we didn't use those?
Why would he have a Dragunov, I thought we didn't use those?
11-18-04, 04:59 PM
#46
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Location: 1bit away from total disaster
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Update
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._re_mi_ea/iraq
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._re_mi_ea/iraq
U.S. May Have Found Fallujah Militant Base
12 minutes ago
Middle East - AP
By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops sweeping through Fallujah on Thursday said they believe they have found the suspected command center of the insurgent group headed by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
In video shot by an embedded CNN cameraman, soldiers walked through an imposing building with concrete columns and with a large sign in Arabic on the wall reading "Al Qaida Organization" and "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."
Inside the building, U.S. soldiers found documents, old computers, notebooks, photographs and copies of the Quran. There also were two letters inside the house, one from al-Zarqawi giving instructions to two of his lieutenants in the region and another seeking money and help from the terrorist leader.
Al-Zarqawi last month renamed his group al-Qaida in Iraq (news - web sites), and his followers have been blamed for a number of deadly bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for his capture or killing — the same amount as for Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
The senior U.S. Marine commander in Iraq cautioned that the discovery by soldiers in Fallujah was still being investigated.
"I cannot stand here and tell you that we found the command and control house or building where Zarqawi went ahead and orchestrated and dealt his (car bombs) ... and the other death and destruction that he has spread throughout the country of Iraq," Lt. Gen. John Sattler told reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites) in a video teleconference from Fallujah. "We will continue to look for that."
In neighboring Jordan, authorities detained al-Zarqawi's nephew near the border with Iraq, a distant relative and a clergyman close to the family said Thursday.
The clergyman and the relative, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said security officials had informed the family that Mohammed al-Harahsheh was detained last month. The relative said al-Harahsheh was being questioned on suspicion of attempting to infiltrate into Iraq to join his militant uncle.
Calls to Al-Zarqawi's family home in Zarqa, an industrial city northeast of the Jordanian capital, Amman, went unanswered.
Also, Sattler said the U.S.-led offensive launched last week in Fallujah has "broken the back of the insurgency" by seizing their main base of operations.
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency. We've taken away this safe haven," he said.
Sattler's conclusion was far more optimistic than an assessment made shortly before the offensive by Marine intelligence officers, who said the insurgency would rebound if U.S. troop levels in the area were significantly reduced after the offensive.
Sattler cautioned, however, that insurgents remained a threat. A group attacked U.S. Marines and Iraqi government forces from a house inside Fallujah on Thursday, killing one Marine and one Iraqi soldier, Sattler said. One Marine and one Iraqi soldier also were wounded.
Sattler said the total U.S. death toll so far in the Fallujah offensive, which began Nov. 7, stands at 51, with about 425 wounded in action.
U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested 104 suspected guerrillas in an insurgent neighborhood in central Baghdad, including nine who are believed to have fled Fallujah, Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Khadim said. Most were Iraqis, although Syrians and non-Iraqi Arabs were among the group, he said.
Also, insurgents detonated a car bomb near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad and a roadside bomb exploded at a job recruiting center in the northern city of Kirkuk in attacks that killed a total of four people and wounded eight, police and officials said.
Insurgents also fired 10 mortar rounds at the provincial administration offices in the northern city of Mosul, wounding four of the governor's guards, authorities said. Gov. Duraid Kashmoula was unhurt in the attack, spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Hastings said.
The rest of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city with more than 1 million residents, remained calm for a second day since the U.S.-led offensive operation began Tuesday to wrest control of the western part of the city from insurgents.
Last week, gunmen stormed police stations, bridges and political offices, overwhelming police forces who, in many places, failed to even put up a fight. Some officers also allegedly cooperated with insurgents.
The U.S. military said as many as 2,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops met "little resistance" during operations to re-secure police stations and key bridges in Mosul from the insurgents.
Iraqi authorities have acknowledged that al-Zarqawi, along with other Fallujah insurgent leaders, escaped from the rebel bastion west of Baghdad where he was based before American troops moved in.
Early Thursday, U.S. troops encountered intense rocket-propelled grenade attacks in Fallujah, said Lt. Col. Pete Newell, a commander in Task Force 22, 1st Infantry Division. The Americans returned heavy fire.
Afterward, troops walked through the area, which contained dozens of destroyed buildings and fox holes where they believed insurgents fled when the bombing in the area started.
Some of the papers found by U.S. soldiers in the building bore Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s picture. A ski mask also was found.
Several dead bodies were on the premises, and a giant crater was seen outside the severely damaged building.
In a separate raid of a nearby building, American forces found a sport utility vehicle with a Texas registration sticker that was being converted into a car bomb.
The SUV was sitting in a warehouse surrounded by several bags of sodium nitrate, which is used to make explosives. The vehicle had no license plate, but some 15 license plates were inside.
Relief organizations estimate that up to 250,000 Iraqis have fled Fallujah and could need help in nearby villages and in Baghdad, said Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman.
There are no independent figures on how many were killed in more than a week of fighting between U.S.-led forces and insurgents in Fallujah, home to about 300,000 people, she said.
About 10 major relief organizations held an emergency meeting in Amman on Thursday to plan how to help civilians affected by the fighting, Van Genderen Stort said.
While U.S. and Iraqi forces have retaken insurgent strongholds in Fallujah and Mosul, violence continues to erupt in Sunni Muslim-dominated areas of Iraq.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, warned that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered to be "participating in terrorism," and it said a number of them already have been arrested.
Thair al-Naqeeb, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, did not specify how many clerics have been detained.
In the past two weeks, a number of Sunni Muslim clerics in Baghdad and other cities — including several members of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars — have been arrested by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The group, considered the most powerful Sunni religious group in the country, had publicly criticized the U.S. assault against Fallujah and promised to boycott national elections in January in protest.
12 minutes ago
Middle East - AP
By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops sweeping through Fallujah on Thursday said they believe they have found the suspected command center of the insurgent group headed by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
In video shot by an embedded CNN cameraman, soldiers walked through an imposing building with concrete columns and with a large sign in Arabic on the wall reading "Al Qaida Organization" and "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."
Inside the building, U.S. soldiers found documents, old computers, notebooks, photographs and copies of the Quran. There also were two letters inside the house, one from al-Zarqawi giving instructions to two of his lieutenants in the region and another seeking money and help from the terrorist leader.
Al-Zarqawi last month renamed his group al-Qaida in Iraq (news - web sites), and his followers have been blamed for a number of deadly bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for his capture or killing — the same amount as for Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
The senior U.S. Marine commander in Iraq cautioned that the discovery by soldiers in Fallujah was still being investigated.
"I cannot stand here and tell you that we found the command and control house or building where Zarqawi went ahead and orchestrated and dealt his (car bombs) ... and the other death and destruction that he has spread throughout the country of Iraq," Lt. Gen. John Sattler told reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites) in a video teleconference from Fallujah. "We will continue to look for that."
In neighboring Jordan, authorities detained al-Zarqawi's nephew near the border with Iraq, a distant relative and a clergyman close to the family said Thursday.
The clergyman and the relative, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said security officials had informed the family that Mohammed al-Harahsheh was detained last month. The relative said al-Harahsheh was being questioned on suspicion of attempting to infiltrate into Iraq to join his militant uncle.
Calls to Al-Zarqawi's family home in Zarqa, an industrial city northeast of the Jordanian capital, Amman, went unanswered.
Also, Sattler said the U.S.-led offensive launched last week in Fallujah has "broken the back of the insurgency" by seizing their main base of operations.
"We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency. We've taken away this safe haven," he said.
Sattler's conclusion was far more optimistic than an assessment made shortly before the offensive by Marine intelligence officers, who said the insurgency would rebound if U.S. troop levels in the area were significantly reduced after the offensive.
Sattler cautioned, however, that insurgents remained a threat. A group attacked U.S. Marines and Iraqi government forces from a house inside Fallujah on Thursday, killing one Marine and one Iraqi soldier, Sattler said. One Marine and one Iraqi soldier also were wounded.
Sattler said the total U.S. death toll so far in the Fallujah offensive, which began Nov. 7, stands at 51, with about 425 wounded in action.
U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested 104 suspected guerrillas in an insurgent neighborhood in central Baghdad, including nine who are believed to have fled Fallujah, Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Khadim said. Most were Iraqis, although Syrians and non-Iraqi Arabs were among the group, he said.
Also, insurgents detonated a car bomb near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad and a roadside bomb exploded at a job recruiting center in the northern city of Kirkuk in attacks that killed a total of four people and wounded eight, police and officials said.
Insurgents also fired 10 mortar rounds at the provincial administration offices in the northern city of Mosul, wounding four of the governor's guards, authorities said. Gov. Duraid Kashmoula was unhurt in the attack, spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Hastings said.
The rest of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city with more than 1 million residents, remained calm for a second day since the U.S.-led offensive operation began Tuesday to wrest control of the western part of the city from insurgents.
Last week, gunmen stormed police stations, bridges and political offices, overwhelming police forces who, in many places, failed to even put up a fight. Some officers also allegedly cooperated with insurgents.
The U.S. military said as many as 2,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops met "little resistance" during operations to re-secure police stations and key bridges in Mosul from the insurgents.
Iraqi authorities have acknowledged that al-Zarqawi, along with other Fallujah insurgent leaders, escaped from the rebel bastion west of Baghdad where he was based before American troops moved in.
Early Thursday, U.S. troops encountered intense rocket-propelled grenade attacks in Fallujah, said Lt. Col. Pete Newell, a commander in Task Force 22, 1st Infantry Division. The Americans returned heavy fire.
Afterward, troops walked through the area, which contained dozens of destroyed buildings and fox holes where they believed insurgents fled when the bombing in the area started.
Some of the papers found by U.S. soldiers in the building bore Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s picture. A ski mask also was found.
Several dead bodies were on the premises, and a giant crater was seen outside the severely damaged building.
In a separate raid of a nearby building, American forces found a sport utility vehicle with a Texas registration sticker that was being converted into a car bomb.
The SUV was sitting in a warehouse surrounded by several bags of sodium nitrate, which is used to make explosives. The vehicle had no license plate, but some 15 license plates were inside.
Relief organizations estimate that up to 250,000 Iraqis have fled Fallujah and could need help in nearby villages and in Baghdad, said Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman.
There are no independent figures on how many were killed in more than a week of fighting between U.S.-led forces and insurgents in Fallujah, home to about 300,000 people, she said.
About 10 major relief organizations held an emergency meeting in Amman on Thursday to plan how to help civilians affected by the fighting, Van Genderen Stort said.
While U.S. and Iraqi forces have retaken insurgent strongholds in Fallujah and Mosul, violence continues to erupt in Sunni Muslim-dominated areas of Iraq.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, warned that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered to be "participating in terrorism," and it said a number of them already have been arrested.
Thair al-Naqeeb, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, did not specify how many clerics have been detained.
In the past two weeks, a number of Sunni Muslim clerics in Baghdad and other cities — including several members of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars — have been arrested by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The group, considered the most powerful Sunni religious group in the country, had publicly criticized the U.S. assault against Fallujah and promised to boycott national elections in January in protest.
