FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - US troops surged into rubble-strewn districts in the heart of Fallujah, seizing one third of the Iraqi city after hours of street fights with rebels in the largest military onslaught since the war.
The US military said it was closing in on the centre of Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold long off-limits to foreigners, less than 24 hours after launching a massive operation to retake the city from rebels.
Underlining the chronic instability prevailing in Iraq`s heartland, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi`s office also announced that a nighttime curfew would be taking effect in the capital Baghdad.
In Fallujah, black and white smoke plumed skyward as US artillery, warplanes and tanks pounded the rebel stronghold west of Baghdad, meeting minimal resistance, AFP correspondents embedded with the American military said.
The battle to reclaim the rebel enclave spread out through neighbourhoods and alleyways from the north towards the centre as marines knocked down walls, barged into houses or crouched outside.
"The military controls one third of the city," a high-ranking marine officer told AFP.
Casualty figures were unavailable from the city, where estimates for the number of its 300,000-strong population who fled ahead of the long-threatened assault vary widely from 20 to 90 percent.
"As for casualties on the insurgents` side I can tell you that they are dying. A lot of them are dying and this is a good thing," marine spokesman Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert said.
"We are downing them," said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers, an executive officer with the marines. "We are using good old American firepower."
But several countries urged the United States to exercise caution to avoid civilian casualties, with Russia saying that the action must not lead to the "suffering of the Iraqi people".
The extremist Islamic Army in Iraq also ordered militants to attack some 20 targets in Iraq in reprisal for the Fallujah offensive, a statement published on its website said.
In a two-pronged assault on Fallujah that began late Monday, thousands of US troops, followed by crack Iraqi soldiers, poured into the northwestern Jolan neighbourhood and the Askari district in the northeast.
Fearful of roadside bombs -- a favoured weapon of the insurgents -- as they entered Jolan, the marines smashed through a railway line and ploughed through fields to avoid using the main roads.
They moved house-to-house through the neighbourhood, seen as the heart of rebel activity in Fallujah, spraying rounds of machine-gun fire at buildings from where militants fought back with small arms fire.
Despite being a residential district, Jolan was a wasteland of shattered glass and rubble, with smoke filling the horizon. Not a civilian was in sight. Chickens and roosters ran around amid a constant clatter of Kalashnikov fire and mortar rounds.
Rebel fighters, their faces covered in scarves, were firing gunshots from run-down houses at US soldiers before rushing on to escape a punishing barrage of American artillery and missiles, an AFP correspondent in the city said.
A smattering of specially trained Iraqi forces accompanied the marines, while many more were poised on the outskirts of the city, preparing to enter.
Sunni and Shiite figures have condemned the assault, dubbed Operation Dawn, with Iraq`s main Sunni political party quitting the government in protest at the offensive, which is aimed at bringing greater security ahead of elections planned for January.
Some 20,000 US and Iraqi troops have been massing around Fallujah since mid-October and the offensive finally erupted a day after the government declared a state of emergency across most of Iraq.
US commanders estimate that 2,000 to 2,500 fighters, some loyal to Iraq`s most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are inside the city and its surrounding areas, ready to fight.
The military believes that another 10,000 men could join in the battle.
In the city of Ramadi, just west of Fallujah, armed rebels massed on the main street after US snipers withdrew from their positions and banners were hung in the windows proclaiming solidarity with insurgents in the neighboring city.
"The residents of Ramadi condemn the attack against Fallujah and we appeal to the inhabitants of Ramadi to wage jihad against the American occupants who want to eradicate Islam," said one man who did not want to be named.
Ramadi was the scene of clashes between US forces and insurgents during the last 24 hours. At least seven Iraqis were killed, medical sources said.
Mosul was also the scene of unrest, with two US military personnel killed when their base in the northern Iraqi city came under mortar fire.
Meanwhile, four attackers were killed and 14 people wounded in an ambush on two Iraqi police stations Tuesday, a day after at least 13 people died when a Baghdad hospital was car bombed, officials said.
11/09/2004 - 17:40 GMT - AFP