BAGHDAD ø The U.S. military claims coalition forces have
trapped thousands of Sunni insurgents in Fallujah.
Officials said the insurgency command structure in Fallujah has been
shattered and small bands of enemy combatants were fighting without
communications or logistical support. They said insurgents have been
unable to flee the city.
"They are now in small pockets, blind, moving about the city," Lt. Gen.
John Sattler, commander of the Marine Corps force in Iraq, said. "They do
not know where we are. They do not know where we are coming from now or
where we will be within the next hour."
Officials said the U.S. military has captured more than 75 percent of
Fallujah and expects to control the entire city by Nov. 12, Middle East Newsline reported. But they
acknowledged that significant resistance was likely to continue for at least
another week.
Sattler told a briefing at a military camp outside Fallujah on Wednesday
that the estimated 15,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops were following their battle
plan and routing an estimated 3,000 insurgents. The general said the
insurgents were isolated and denied their freedom of movement.
"We are comfortable that they are not able to communicate, to work out
any coordination," Sattler said. "When they attempted to flee from one zone
to another they were killed. We feel very comfortable that none of them
moved back toward the north or escaped on the flanks."
Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said Iraqi and
U.S. forces have been steadily eliminating pockets of resistance in Fallujah.
But he would not say whether the resistance has been broken.
The Iraqi commander of the 2,000 Iraqi troops in Fallujah agreed. Maj.
Gen. Abdul Qader Mohan said the insurgents have lost their combat
effectiveness and instead were killing civilian hostages.
"They fight," Mohan said. "But their resistance is limited because of
the immense pressure we are putting on them."