U.S. Troops Seize Bridges, Hospital in Fallujah Clash

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The New York Sun

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq – American forces stormed into western districts of Fallujah early today, seizing the main city hospital and securing two key bridges over the Euphrates River in what appeared to be the first stage of the long-expected assault on the insurgent stronghold.


An AC-130 gunship raked the city with 40 mm cannon fire as explosions from American artillery lit up the night sky. Intermittent artillery fire blasted southern neighborhoods of Fallujah, and orange fireballs from high explosive airbursts could be seen above the rooftops.


American officials said the toughest fight was yet to come – when American forces enter the main part of the city on the east bank of the river, including the Jolan neighborhood, where insurgent defenses are believed the strongest.


The initial attacks on Fallujah began just hours after the Iraqi government declared 60 days of emergency rule throughout most of the country as terrorists dramatically escalated attacks, killing at least 30 people, including two Americans.


Dr. Salih al-Issawi, the head of Fallujah’s main hospital, said he had asked American officers to allow doctors and ambulances to go inside the main part of the city to help the wounded but they refused. There was no confirmation from the Americans.


The action began after sundown on the outskirts of the city, which has been sealed off by American and Iraqi forces, and the minaret-studded skyline was lit up with huge flashes of light.


Flares were dropped to illuminate targets, and defenders fought back with heavy machine-gun fire. Flaming red tracer rounds streaked through the night sky from terrorist positions inside the city, 40 miles west of Baghdad.


Before the assault began, American commanders warned troops to expect the most brutal urban fighting since the Vietnam War.


Underscoring the instability elsewhere in Iraq, several heavy explosions thundered through the capital even as government spokesman Thair Hassan al-Naqeeb was announcing the state of emergency, which applies throughout the country except for Kurdish-ruled areas in the north.


Prime Minister Allawi said the state of emergency is a “very powerful message that we are serious” about reining in insurgents before elections set for late January.


“We want to secure the country so elections can be done in a peaceful way and the Iraqi people can participate in the elections freely, without the intimidation by terrorists and by forces who are trying to wreck the political process in Iraq,” he told reporters.


Mr. Allawi said nothing in public about the beginning of the attack in Fallujah, although American commanders have said it would be his responsibility to order the storming of the city.


Insurgents, meanwhile, waged a second day of multiple attacks across the restive Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, storming police stations, assassinating government officials, and setting off deadly car bombs. About 60 people have been killed and 75 injured in the two days of attacks.


At dawn, armed rebels stormed three police stations in the towns of Haditha and Haqlaniyah, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, killing 22 policemen. Some were lined up and shot execution-style, according to police and hospital officials. Three attacks on American convoys in and around Baghdad killed two American soldiers and wounded five others, the military said. Residents reported grenades setting police cars aflame on Haifa Street in the heart of the capital.


A car bomb also exploded near the Baghdad home of Iraq’s finance minister, Adil Abdel-Mahdi, a leading Shiite politician. Mr. Abdel-Mahdi and his family were not home at the time, but the American military said the bomb killed one Iraqi bystander and wounded another. An American patrol came under small-arms fire as it responded, wounding one soldier, a statement said.


In a Web posting, the Al Qaeda affiliate group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be headquartered in Fallujah, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Haditha and Haqlaniyah.


“In the dawn of this blessed day, the lions of Al Qaeda in Iraq faced up to a group of apostates in the proud city of Haditha,” said the statement, which could not be authenticated. “The lions stormed the city’s police directorate and killed everyone there…With this operation, the city has been completely liberated. The lions have been wandering in the city until late today.”


The widespread terrorist attacks seemed aimed at relieving the pressure on Fallujah, where about 10,000 American troops – including two Marine battalions and an Army battalion – were massed for the assault. Two Iraqi brigades also stood by.


The emergency decree lays the groundwork for a severe crackdown in areas where guerrillas operate. Under the law, all traffic and men between the ages of 15 and 55 were banned from the streets of Fallujah and surrounding areas 24 hours a day. All members of the Fallujah police and security services were suspended. Under the emergency power, all roads into Fallujah and neighboring Ramadi are closed indefinitely.


The New York Sun

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