More Airstrikes Target Fallouja Insurgents

FALLOUJA, Iraq â€”  Marines surrounding this war-battered city called in airstrikes for a second day Wednesday, saying they were provoked by insurgents who launched attacks with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Intensive fighting moved from a train station to a mosque to the edges of neighborhoods. Airstrikes from an AC-130 gunship destroyed a flatbed truck that was believed to be ferrying guerrillas and ammunition through the streets. Heavy artillery also leveled a house. In both cases, “secondary explosions� continued for 20 minutes, indicating the strikes hit large caches of weapons and ammunition, according to Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations in Iraq.

“The cordon around Fallouja remains tight,� said Kimmitt, adding that U.S. forces have not initiated the recent fighting. He said there have been a “number of provocations� by insurgents but that American officials still believe negotiations “have promise� for a peaceful solution. The general quickly added, however, that U.S. military patience was not infinite.

To the south in the holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, U.S. forces continued to encircle the militia protecting radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr. The imam has been camped in Najaf since leading an insurrection against the occupation early this month. U.S. officials said talks with Iraqi religious and political leaders to end the standoff are continuing, but offered no details.

Kimmitt said there is “validity� to reports that rival Shiite organizations in the region -- opposed to Sadr and his lack of religious credentials -- have begun attacking and intimidating Sadr’s followers. A report in the Arabic press said that members of a group known as the Double-Pointed Sword killed or kidnapped as many as five of the cleric’s militiamen.

Much of the focus in Iraq on Wednesday was on Fallouja.

Kimmitt, asked to explain why the U.S. insisted that there was a cease-fire when fighting seemed to erupt daily, conceded that it was “somewhat paradoxical.� He added that the Marines are defending themselves, and that for now a cease-fire would remain in effect.

The general said the military would allow the political track to progress “as long as it shows promise.�

Masked insurgents appeared Wednesday on Arabic TV. They burned the proposed new Iraqi flag and condemned the country’s political leadership as being controlled by American infidels.

In one skirmish in Fallouja on Wednesday, four Marines were injured during a firefight that ended when the Marines summoned F-16 and F-18 aircraft to bomb insurgent positions.

In a second fight about a mile away, Marines used helicopter gunships and heavily armed Humvees to push insurgents from an abandoned train station where they had stored weapons.

The insurgents fought back for several hours, including firing at the helicopters. Some Marines reported seeing women and children with the insurgents as they carried off weaponry in the early stages of the fight.

Meanwhile, plans for joint patrols by Marines and Iraqi Civilian Defense Corps members were delayed again, this time until Friday, to allow for more training. The Marine Corps is struggling to “put an Iraqi face� on efforts to eradicate the insurgency movement in Fallouja.

Col. John Toolan, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment assigned to Fallouja, said no consideration had been given to offering amnesty to the insurgents if they turned over their weapons, as called for under a cease-fire. “It’s not even on the table,� he said.

Instead, the insurgents, if they chose to surrender, would be turned over to the Iraqi justice system. The Marine Corps is attempting to reassemble the Fallouja courts; the judges fled after the Marines encircled the city April 5.

Fleishman reported from Baghdad and Perry from Fallouja.