US Marines punched to the heart of Fallujah yesterday after fierce fighting with guerrillas in Iraq's most rebellious city, a US military source said.
The source gave no details about the advance to the center, the furthest US forces have penetrated in the Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad in seven months.
PHOTO: AP
A total of 14 Americans have been killed in the past two days across Iraq -- including five in an around Fallujah and nine others killed as guerrillas launched a wave of attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.
A senior Pentagon official said yesterday the nine were killed Monday southwest of Fallujah and in the capital.
Residents confirmed US-led forces were near the middle of Fallujah. Terrified civilians stayed at home, nerves stretched by the crash of bombs.
As battles raged in Fallujah, insurgents hit back elsewhere with bloody attacks in Baqubah and other cities, in which some 60 people have been killed since Monday night.
A US Marine tank company commander -- part of a US-led force at least 10,000 strong -- said guerrillas were battling hard in Fallujah's northern Jolan district.
"They are putting up a strong fight and I saw many of them on the street I was on," Marine Captain Robert Bodisch said.
A thunderous explosion shook northern Fallujah, witnesses said. Black smoke billowed from the scene.
"There are heavy air strikes everywhere and heavy clashes in the Jolan district," one resident said.
Many families fled the city of 300,000 to escape air raids before the offensive. It is not clear how many remain.
Residents said they had no power and used kerosene lamps at night. They kept to ground floors for safety. Telephones were erratic. Even food shops had been closed for six days.
"My men have reached their designated area 1km inside Fallujah on foot and have liberated one neighborhood," said a senior Iraqi army officer.
Iraqi troops brought nine handcuffed prisoners to a railway station on the northern edge of the Jolan area where US and Iraqi forces are based. They said two of them were Egyptians and one was Syrian. The rest were Iraqis.
The interim Iraqi government and its US backers say foreign Muslim militants led by al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are holed up in Fallujah along with Iraqi rebels.
Doctors said at least 15 civilians were killed in Monday's fighting.
The offensive launched after dark on Monday was the second assault in seven months to try to pacify the rebel stronghold.
After a day of air strikes, shelling and tank fire, US troops launched the ground assault two hours after sundown, when Muslims break their daily fast in the month of Ramadan.
Fighters trying to show their muscle after the Fallujah assault bombed two churches, a hospital and other targets in Baghdad, killing 11 people on Monday night.
They also struck at British troops south of the capital, killing a soldier and wounding two with a roadside bomb.
In other news, a curfew will be imposed on Baghdad and surrounding areas from 10:30pm to 4am until further notice, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS