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11/09/2004:

"House by house, Falluja falls"

US troops pushed into the centre of Falluja yesterday, fighting their way from house to house and shooting their way through bands of militants in their drive to recapture the city that has been the centre of insurgency since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

On the second day of the assault, US army forces pressed into the city from the east, reaching the centre as marine units drove their way down in two prongs from the north. Fighter bombers and heavy artillery fire cleared the way as the troops advanced.

US officials said 10 American and two Iraqi troops had died in Falluja since the offensive began.

Although some officers reported heavy resistance in some districts, overall the insurgents appeared to have put up less of a coordinated fight than expected.

"We expected a much fiercer reaction," said Major General Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem, the head of Iraqi forces in Falluja and the province's newly appointed military governor.

He admitted some of the fighters may have already left. "There is movement in and out. It is a vast and difficult area. Some people even swim in and out," he said.

Full Article:guardian.co.uk