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Falluja pounded by U.S. firepower
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A U.S. airborne gunship has pounded the Iraqi city of Falluja overnight in a display of overwhelming firepower against insurgents battling Marines on the outskirts of town.
As the U.N. envoy on Iraq was telling the United Nations of bloody consequences should talks fail in Falluja, at least one AC-130, first used in Vietnam, poured down fire in what Marines said on Wednesday had been a precision response to an attack.
Local residents said that only one person was injured and that 10 homes which were destroyed had been empty.
A year after the fall of Saddam Hussein, who was spending his 67th birthday in a secret jail in U.S. custody, U.S. forces are trying to quell twin threats to the new order in Baghdad from Sunni Muslim guerrillas in Falluja to Shi'ite fighters in the south before they hand sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
It was the second time in as many days that they had used such a gunship, a converted cargo plane nicknamed Spooky or Spectre which spews concentrated cannon and machinegun fire over the ground. U.S. officers said an AC-130 killed nearly 60 Shi'ite militia near the second flashpoint, Najaf, on Monday.
Commanders near Najaf said that assault appeared to have demoralised guerrillas in the city and was part of a strategy to persuade their wanted religious leader to give himself up.
In Falluja a year ago on Wednesday -- previously a public holiday in honour of Saddam's birthday -- U.S. soldiers killed and wounded dozens of demonstrators. It was an early public relations setback. The town is now a byword for Iraq's aggrieved and long dominant Sunni minority and in the wider Arab world.
The local police chief said he would renew talks with the Marines about launching joint patrols in the town.
U.S. officials, clearly aware that such a move could spark new guerrilla attacks on their troops, have said they will begin joint patrols in the coming days. It is not clear when.
POPULAR ANGER
Many people in Falluja, where civic leaders concluded a truce with the Marines two weeks ago, were enraged by the overnight attack from the sky.
"This attack shows the frustration in the ranks of American soldiers in Iraq and the American political defeat," said Ali Abdullah. "We have uncovered the treachery and barbarity of the U.S. army...The more they escalate the situation, the more violent the reaction on the Iraqi street."
Reports of 600 dead and the sight of thousands fleeing their homes since U.S. retaliation began after the killings of four American security guards have fuelled such anger.
"Unless this standoff is brought to a resolution through peaceful means, there is great risk of a very bloody confrontation," envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told the United Nations.
An intense firefight also took place overnight in Khaldiya, just west of Falluja, and U.S. patrols appeared to have been stepped up in other towns in the "Sunni triangle" north and west of Baghdad, Saddam's home region and a bastion of support.
U.S. officers say they face about 2,000 fighters, including some foreign Islamic fighters, in Falluja and are anxious to avoid civilian casualties that could alienate public opinion.
About 115 U.S. soldiers have been killed this month alone, compared with fewer than 100 in the three weeks it took to oust Saddam. In all, 523 have been killed since they invaded Iraq.
NAJAF DANGERS
A possibly even more delicate dilemma faces them in Najaf, to the south of Baghdad, where a radical cleric from Iraq's 60-percent Shi'ite majority, Moqtada al-Sadr, has taken refuge among the shrines with his Mehdi Army militia.
An aide to Sadr was quick to echo local accusations that many civilians died in Monday night's U.S. attack outside the city, the heaviest in a three-week stand-off with Sadr.
Qais al-Khazali said a move into Najaf itself would inflame Shi'ite opinion: "We don't think the Americans are stupid enough to come and attack the city of Najaf because this will transform the situation into a Shi'ite Islamic confrontation with the Americans," he said. Sadr has vowed suicide attacks if they do.
U.S. commanders stress they aim to avoid holy sites, though they have said they will attack them if they are being used for combat -- in Falluja, troops destroyed the minaret of a mosque on Monday after saying they had been fired on from it.
"Our goal is to continue to pressure Sadr to understand that we are not going away," said Colonel Brad May, commander of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment outside Najaf, arguing that much of the population of Najaf was against Sadr.
"It is in his best interest to go ahead and lay down arms and not see any further loss of life."
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A U.S. airborne gunship has pounded the Iraqi city of Falluja overnight in a display of overwhelming firepower against insurgents battling Marines on the outskirts of town.
As the U.N. envoy on Iraq was telling the United Nations of bloody consequences should talks fail in Falluja, at least one AC-130, first used in Vietnam, poured down fire in what Marines said on Wednesday had been a precision response to an attack.
Local residents said that only one person was injured and that 10 homes which were destroyed had been empty.
A year after the fall of Saddam Hussein, who was spending his 67th birthday in a secret jail in U.S. custody, U.S. forces are trying to quell twin threats to the new order in Baghdad from Sunni Muslim guerrillas in Falluja to Shi'ite fighters in the south before they hand sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
It was the second time in as many days that they had used such a gunship, a converted cargo plane nicknamed Spooky or Spectre which spews concentrated cannon and machinegun fire over the ground. U.S. officers said an AC-130 killed nearly 60 Shi'ite militia near the second flashpoint, Najaf, on Monday.
Commanders near Najaf said that assault appeared to have demoralised guerrillas in the city and was part of a strategy to persuade their wanted religious leader to give himself up.
In Falluja a year ago on Wednesday -- previously a public holiday in honour of Saddam's birthday -- U.S. soldiers killed and wounded dozens of demonstrators. It was an early public relations setback. The town is now a byword for Iraq's aggrieved and long dominant Sunni minority and in the wider Arab world.
The local police chief said he would renew talks with the Marines about launching joint patrols in the town.
U.S. officials, clearly aware that such a move could spark new guerrilla attacks on their troops, have said they will begin joint patrols in the coming days. It is not clear when.
POPULAR ANGER
Many people in Falluja, where civic leaders concluded a truce with the Marines two weeks ago, were enraged by the overnight attack from the sky.
"This attack shows the frustration in the ranks of American soldiers in Iraq and the American political defeat," said Ali Abdullah. "We have uncovered the treachery and barbarity of the U.S. army...The more they escalate the situation, the more violent the reaction on the Iraqi street."
Reports of 600 dead and the sight of thousands fleeing their homes since U.S. retaliation began after the killings of four American security guards have fuelled such anger.
"Unless this standoff is brought to a resolution through peaceful means, there is great risk of a very bloody confrontation," envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told the United Nations.
An intense firefight also took place overnight in Khaldiya, just west of Falluja, and U.S. patrols appeared to have been stepped up in other towns in the "Sunni triangle" north and west of Baghdad, Saddam's home region and a bastion of support.
U.S. officers say they face about 2,000 fighters, including some foreign Islamic fighters, in Falluja and are anxious to avoid civilian casualties that could alienate public opinion.
About 115 U.S. soldiers have been killed this month alone, compared with fewer than 100 in the three weeks it took to oust Saddam. In all, 523 have been killed since they invaded Iraq.
NAJAF DANGERS
A possibly even more delicate dilemma faces them in Najaf, to the south of Baghdad, where a radical cleric from Iraq's 60-percent Shi'ite majority, Moqtada al-Sadr, has taken refuge among the shrines with his Mehdi Army militia.
An aide to Sadr was quick to echo local accusations that many civilians died in Monday night's U.S. attack outside the city, the heaviest in a three-week stand-off with Sadr.
Qais al-Khazali said a move into Najaf itself would inflame Shi'ite opinion: "We don't think the Americans are stupid enough to come and attack the city of Najaf because this will transform the situation into a Shi'ite Islamic confrontation with the Americans," he said. Sadr has vowed suicide attacks if they do.
U.S. commanders stress they aim to avoid holy sites, though they have said they will attack them if they are being used for combat -- in Falluja, troops destroyed the minaret of a mosque on Monday after saying they had been fired on from it.
"Our goal is to continue to pressure Sadr to understand that we are not going away," said Colonel Brad May, commander of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment outside Najaf, arguing that much of the population of Najaf was against Sadr.
"It is in his best interest to go ahead and lay down arms and not see any further loss of life."
