Some Fallujah residents who tried entering the city found no access through the cordon operation, a marked difference from last April when large gaps were likely exploited by gun runners. American forces also cordoned off the city. A round-the-clock curfew was imposed on Fallujah and residents were warned not to carry weapons. Prior to the commencement of the operation, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi declared a state of emergency across Iraq, except for the Kurdish area of Iraq as violence flared in anticipation of the assault on Fallujah. Under international law, mosques granted protected status but lose that status if they are used for military purposes. The tunnels are believed to run between mosques and schools that could also be used to transport weapons and ammunitions. MNF-I also reported that insurgents dug a number of tunnels used as escape routes which also allowed fighters to cross the city from weapons cache to weapons cache. However, according to Defense Tech, the 36th Commando Battalion, was originally a "political" unit drawn from the militias of the five major political parties, but only its Kurdish pesh merga element has really proved reliable. Iraq's 36th Commando Battalion was placed in charge of Fallujah General Hospital which was kept open to provide medical services to injured civilians. However, according to MNF-I the hospital was being used as a center for enemy propaganda to inflate the number of civilian casualties. In the first stage of their assault, a Marine unit and other troops seized two strategic bridges and a hospital situated on a peninsula formed by the Euphrates River leading to an area that was a possible fall back zone for insurgents driven out of central Fallujah. Casey Jr., Jordanian, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the insurgent faction in Fallujah, is believed to have fled the city as of 9 November 2004. However, according to the head of CENTCOM, Gen. officials estimated that 2,000-3,000 hardcore insurgents were entrenched in the city at the time the assault began. military officials believed that 70-90 percent of the city's population had fled. Fallujah had a population of approximately 300,000 civilians but U.S. The assault on the city was an attempt to regain control of the city from insurgents in preparation for national elections scheduled for January 2005. Casey Jr., the top American commander in Iraq, acknowledged that an unknown number of the Iraqis did not show up. commanders expected about 2,000 members of Iraqi Security Forces to fight with American troops but Gen. A number of trained Iraqi forces also particpated in the operation. This followed weeks of aerial bombardment by U.S. It was later renamed Operation al-Fajr (Arabic for Dawn) by the Iraqi Defence Minister.Īn estimated 10,000-15,000 American troops launched Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah on November 8, 2004. This operation was initially named Phantom Fury by DoD.
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