Fallujah Erupts Again
A series of explosions and gunfire rocked Fallujah on Wednesday in new fighting after a heavy battle the night before in which U.S. warplanes and artillery pounded the city in a show of force against Sunni insurgents holed up in a city slum.
Gunfire and mortar blasts could be heard for more than an hour from southwestern Fallujah in the afternoon, then three thunderous explosions shook the area as U.S. warplanes circled over head. A black plume of smoke rose over the area.
Tuesday night's heavy bombardment followed the end of a two-day extension of a cease-fire. A Marine and eight insurgents were killed in Fallujah on Monday.
Despite the battles in the city, U.S. officials say they are pushing ahead with negotiations to resolve the Fallujah standoff rather than launch an all-out offensive.
Earlier Wednesday, CBS News' Lisa Barron reported that Iraqi security forces had begun patrolling the city, having been ordered to fan out through the streets because U.S. troops would be entering soon. Joint patrols of U.S. and Iraqi forces could start as early as Thursday.
Some U.S. officers have expressed concerns that the patrols could be targeted by militants who refused to surrender their weapons.
In other developments:
"We are still at the early stage ... but I think that the job can be done, in particular because the Iraqis desperately need it and want it — and we will do our very best to help," Lakhdar Brahimi said.
Tuesday's fighting in Fallujah appeared far heavier than the previous night's clashes, in which the eight insurgents and Marine were killed, suggesting that U.S. forces were trying to wear down gunmen in the Jolan neighborhood, a district of narrow alleyways and ramshackle houses that is considered a core of militant resistance.
An AC-130, a powerful gunship that carries artillery and machine guns, unleash a barrage of fire including shells from a 105mm howitzer against insurgent targets. Gunfire and explosions reverberated for nearly two hours, and an orange glow shone over the area while showers of sparks descended like fireworks.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the battle was sparked when troops sighted two trucks moving through the city with their lights off in an area where insurgents had been seen active earlier in the day.
The AC-130s destroyed the trucks, and ammunition in the trucks exploded, Kimmitt told NBC.
Iraqi hospitals reported that two people were injured in the fighting. Militants, however, often do not evacuate their casualties to hospitals fearing that the injured could be arrested by American forces. There was no information on any Iraqis being killed.
At least eight destroyed houses could be seen in the Jolan neighborhood after the fighting ended.
U.S. aircraft dropped white leaflets over Fallujah before the shelling began, calling in Arabic on insurgents to give up.
"Surrender, you are surrounded," the leaflets said. "If you are a terrorist, beware, because your last day was yesterday. In order to spare your life end your actions and surrender to coalition forces now. We are coming to arrest you."
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday that continuing negotiations in Fallujah was "worth the try."
"I think that realistically if you've got some very tough people in a city that are terrorists … that you have to expect that they're not going to be terribly cooperative," he said. "Now, does that mean that something can't be worked out? No."
On the city's main road Wednesday, several families were seen fleeing the city. The fighting came at the end of a truce in which Marines outside of the city promised not to assault Fallujah if gunmen gave up their weapons. U.S. commanders have said that insurgents have only given up rusty or unusable weapons.
"I was pinning some hope on the truce. The American air bombing dashed my hopes," Ali Muzel said as he escorted his wife and five children to Baghdad.
In southern Iraq, the military is seeking to hike up pressure on radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr but is treading carefully, promising to stay away from Shiite holy sites at the heart of the city. The base, where U.S. troops moved in earlier this week, lies about three miles from the Shiite shrines.
South of Baghdad, U.S. forces set up their first checkpoints in Najaf, just outside their base. Another checkpoint was established on a bridge over the Euphrates River outside Kufa — scene of a heavy battle Monday in which 64 Iraqis were killed.
"They (militias) took a heavy beating," Col. Brad May, commander of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, said. "Our goal … is to continue to pressure on al-Sadr and his militia. We are not going away."
But he underlined that troops have "been very careful to respect" shrines in Kufa and Najaf.
Outside Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a military convoy headed in the direction of Fallujah, killing or wounding at least two people.