FALLUJAH, Iraq – American forces Friday pushed deeper into the last remaining insurgent stronghold in Fallujah, and the Iraqi government rushed massive reinforcements to Mosul, the country’s third-largest city, where police lost control in the face of insurgent attacks.
Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said U.S. and Iraqi forces now occupy about 80 percent of Fallujah, and clearing operations are continuing to find caches of weapons and ammunition.
Armed militants in Mosul attacked the main headquarters of a key Kurdish political party and assassinated a senior police officer as the governor asked for security forces to stabilize the situation.
Saadi Ahmed, an official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said an hour-long gun battle broke out Friday between gunmen and the guards at the main headquarters. Guards killed six attackers and captured four others before the rest fled.
On Thursday, guerrillas attacked at least five police stations and political party offices there in what could be a bid to relieve pressure on their allies in Fallujah.
The unrest prompted the government to fire Mosul police chief Brig. Gen. Mohammed Kheiri Barhawi, said deputy Gov. Khissrou Gouran. The move followed allegations by local officials that police abandoned their positions and in some cases cooperated with insurgents during Thursday’s attacks.
Gov. Duraid Kashmoula said Mosul asked the Iraqi government for help in stabilizing the security situation.
“We asked the central government in Baghdad (for reinforcements) and God willing they should arrive today,” he said. Kashmoula said he believed “there’s infiltration among some (security) apparatuses from the saboteurs.”
In the Fallujah’s north, U.S. forces report roving squads of between three and five militants shooting small-arms fire and moving easily through narrow alleyways. Troops are finding numerous weapons caches, the military said.
“The rout is on,” said a 1st Cavalry Division officer. “It won’t be long now.”
Fighting was so fierce that, on one occasion, U.S. troops fought insurgents room to room, just a few feet away from each other in the same house.
Troops have cut off all roads and bridges leading out of the city and have turned back hundreds of men trying to flee the city during the assault. Only women, children and the elderly can leave.
Associated Press
U.S. Marines lead away a captured Iraqi man in the center of Fallujah, Iraq, on Friday.
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