From Jihad Unspun, an article by By Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice
US forces began a new military offensive against Fallujah at dawn on Tuesday that they have codenamed âGnawing Ratsâ ..... A major in the so-called Iraqi military told the correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam that the operation aims at killing or arresting armed Resistance members in Fallujah, which, he claimed, have recently become noticeably active in the city. The operation is expected to last for a very long time.
âGnawing Ratsâ was launched by the US Marines together with their puppet âIraqi armyâ as of 10 a.m. local time Tuesday morning, beginning with the arrest of 50 âsuspects,â based on claims that the US military has information about the presence of Resistance fighters in the city. Because of the new offensive, Fallujah is once again paralyzed while being subjected to the campaign of arbitrary arrests and raids, so far on more than 70 houses. ....
.... over-flights by an unusually large group of American warplanes, six in total, plus a large number of helicopters provided air cover as more than 50 American occupation vehicles deployed, heralding the arrival of the US commander. .... Meanwhile residents in the neighborhoods of al- Muâallimin, al-Muhandisin, and ash-Shuhadaâ were put under curfew and their shops and stores were ordered closed.
.... three US Marines were found dead on the banks of the Euphrates River in the area âbetween the bridgesâ in western Fallujah. The cause of their deaths was not clear, given the relative calm that has prevailed in the area since Tuesday morning. ....
US forces announced that they would arrest any journalist who enters Fallujah without a pass issued by them, or who takes photographs, or conducts interviews. ....
... a short while earlier Iraqi Resistance forces had bombarded the US occupation camp north of Fallujah. The correspondent reported witnesses as saying that eight blasts shook the American camp sending clouds of black smoke rising into the sky. ... Resistance fighters had been fiercely bombarding the US forces in the âAmiriyat Fallujah area, south of the city of al-Falllujah from Tuesday afternoon .... The facility for military production -- now called al-âAmir Facility, but known as the Saddam Facility for Military Production prior to the American occupation -- came under Resistance attack with Grad rockets Tuesday afternoon. A total of fifteen powerful explosions had gone off by 9pm Tuesday night, local time, as rockets blasted into the American-occupied facility. The correspondent who is located in the city was able to hear the explosions of the rockets going off in the facility outside of town. The Saddam Facility for Military Production has been an American headquarters for some two months now. |