FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - Crouching in mosques, rebels traded fire with US troops in the heart of Fallujah as the military pushed south after seizing 70 percent of the Iraqi city on the second full day of battle.
Clashes erupted at flashpoint sites in the Sunni bastion, but other parts of the dusty network of rubble-strewn streets gave way easily to the invading US tanks and infantry as they rolled from north to south.
"Coalition forces control 70 percent of the city," said a senior US military officer, adding that there were still some small pockets of resistance.
Insurgents had regrouped in the south of Fallujah, he told AFP.
Militants also sought refuge in several central mosques.
"They are trading fire in the centre of Fallujah. They are firing from several mosques," said a US marine officer.
Unwilling to damage the buildings, marines held positions outside.
"We are seeing suspicious activities inside mosques but we are not moving in. We provide security around the site and wait for Iraqi security forces to move in," said marine spokesman Lieutenent Lyle Gilbert.
An AFP correspondent embedded with the marines said 10 to 15 artillery and air strikes pounded the city on Wednesday, continuing the punishing rythm of firepower that has destroyed one house in 10 in some areas.
The insurgents are outgunned but tenacious in fighting for their stronghold, which became a no-go area for US forces after a battle in April ended in stalemate and the military withdrew. They are lurking inside crumbling houses and apartment buildings, shooting at the soldiers during breaks in the US shelling.
Ten US soldiers and two Iraqi troops had died as of 6:30 pm (1530 GMT) Tuesday since the offensive was launched the night before, while scores of insurgents had also been killed, the military said.
An up-to-the minute toll was impossible to provide during battle time.
"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," Gilbert said.
"We are downing them," said marine Major Todd Desgrosseilliers. "We are using good old American firepower."
Marines said 20 guerillas had been killed on Tuesday in the northwestern Jolan area, about half of them by snipers. Bodies were buried under buildings that had been floored by artillery and ground fire.
At least 38 rebels died a day earlier in heavy clashes that broke out after US and Iraqi troops stormed the main hospital and two strategic bridges to the west before the main assault began.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi launched the battle to reclaim Fallujah, seen as the epicentre of an insurgency plaguing the country, to boost security so that key elections could go ahead as planned in January.
But it may have prompted another crisis. In the run-up to the offensive, which had been in the pipeline for months, tens of thousands of residents fled their homes to camps outside the city or to Baghdad.
Between 20 and 90 percent of Fallujah`s 300,000-strong population is thought to have left, sparking fears about their welfare.
Thousands of people were believed to be in the Habaniyah area, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of town, General Abdul Qader Mohan, the Iraqi commander and chief spokesman for the Fallujah assault, said Tuesday.
"In some cases seven families are living in one room at the tourist village and sometimes 300 people have to wait in line to use the toilet," he said.
"Many of them are suffering illnesses already."
There were also serious concerns about the living conditions of those remaining inside the city, and the treatment of the wounded there.
Mohan said joint Iraqi and US civil affairs units were being dispatched to each section of the city that is reclaimed by troops in the fighting.
"We are handing out food, blankets and clothing and even money," he said adding that at least 150 families were found in a cluster of buildings near the railway tracks on the northern side of the city.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday that it was concerned that the wounded were not receiving proper medical treatment.
11/10/2004 - 11:08 GMT - AFP