Ned Parker

United States marines and Iraqi troops occupied about three-quarters of Fallujah on Thursday, but were facing an enormous task in rooting out determined insurgents, many of whom appeared to have gone underground. It was unclear how many insurgents died in the battle. In the dusty streets, cats fed off the corpses.

Crouching in mosques, rebels traded fire with United States troops on Wednesday in the heart of Fallujah as the military pushed south after seizing 70% of the Iraqi city on the second full day of battle. The Red Crescent painted a grim picture of the humanitarian conditions inside and said it is sending a small team to evaluate.
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United States marines pressing an offensive in the Iraqi town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, bombed a central mosque on Wednesday and killed up to 40 insurgents holed up inside, a marine officer said. The bombing came after several hours of small arms and rocket-propelled grenades fire from insurgents.
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