US forces hammered southern Fallujah with renewed airstrikes and artillery yesterday, hitting mortar positions and sniper nests, in preparation for a ground assault on insurgents trapped in this part of the former militant stronghold.
Loud explosions rocked the city throughout the morning as gunfire reverberated across town. Smoke rose above Fallujah as helicopters hovered overhead. Marines were seen perched on rooftops. Many buildings were heavily damaged with few signs of civilians.
In the past 24 hours of fighting, three US troops were killed while another 17 were wounded in Fallujah, the US military said. The number of enemy fighters killed were not available, with US officials saying rebel casualties from airstrikes was difficult to confirm.
US troops were steadily advancing through the city from the northern end, pushing militants slowly into the southern half of Fallujah. With US units positioned to the south and east, and the Euphrates River on the west, insurgents are being squeezed into a corner, the military said.
US troops, on the verge of gaining control of the city, have been fighting pockets of resistance in this former militant stronghold as an Iraqi commander reported the discovery of "hostage slaughterhouses" in which foreign captives had been killed.
Insurgents have sought to open a second front elsewhere in Iraq, mounting attacks outside Fallujah and kidnapping three relatives of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Militants also claimed to have abducted 20 Iraqi National Guard (ING) troops in Fallujah.
The latest kidnappings were part of a surge of attacks outside the city -- an attempt by militants to divert US-Iraqi forces.
Yesterday, a car bomb hit central Baghdad around 11:40am, sending out huge plumes of black smoke over the heart of the capital. Police said the bomb detonated along Saadoun Street, a densely populated commercial area with major hotels housing foreigners. At least one body was seen being pulled from the rubble, as bloodied and burned victims were carried off.
Another car bomb exploded in northern Iraq near a convoy carrying the governor of Kirkuk province, killing one bystander and injuring 14 others. Police said Governor Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, a Kurd, was unharmed.
Early yesterday, al-Jazeera television reported 32 people were killed and about 50 injured in politically motivated violence Wednesday throughout Iraq, but it was unclear if the figures included deaths and injuries in Fallujah.
A day earlier, US warplanes fired on the city's main street and market as well as Jolan, one of several neighborhoods where troops were skirmishing with militants.
In what could be a sign of progress, the Marines began turning over the northern neighborhood of Jolan to Iraqi forces, signaling that Marines consider the area relatively secure. Jolan was considered one of the strongest positions held by militants inside Fallujah.
In one of the most dramatic clashes Wednesday, snipers fired on US and Iraqi troops from the minarets of the Khulafah Al Rashid mosque, the military said. US Marines called in an airstrike, and an F-18 dropped a bomb on the mosque, destroying both minarets
Also See Story:
Arab world divided over Fallujah
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS