FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - US-led forces battled pockets of resistance by rebels in Fallujah where the military said 38 US troops and more than 1,200 insurgents had died, while fresh violence ignited in other Iraqi cities.
The US military said its forces and Iraqi troops now controlled most of Fallujah, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, "but operations are not over". At least five Iraqi soldiers have also died in the battle and 275 US soldiers have been wounded.
Even as the Americans claimed significant victory in the flashpoint Iraqi enclave, fighting flared in Mosul, Ramadi, Baquba and part of Baghdad, while saboteurs set ablaze oil wells in Kirkuk.
Clashes were so intense in Baquba, northeast of the Iraqi capital, that security forces called in US planes which dropped two 500-pound bombs on suspected hideouts on the outskirts, backed by ground fire.
A US military official said about 20 insurgents were killed. There was no independent confirmation of casualty figures.
But the fighting, which began about 8:00 am (0500 GMT), continued through the morning, and US Army Staff Sergeant Steve Johnson said about 80 to 85 militants were still involved in skirmishes in the area.
US-led military forces in the area were attacked from a mosque. "Iraqi police have secured that mosque and coalition forces are working with the (Baquba) governor and police chief right now," said Johnson.
In the main focus of fighting, Fallujah, where fighting has raged for a week -- with US overwhelming firepower pitted against rebel knowledge of the terrain -- the fate of civilians was causing increasing concern, said aid workers.
The city was home to some 300,000 people, two-third of whom were estimated to have fled before the US-led offensive began last week. But there are no accurate figures for those remaining, lacking food, water, electricity and medical facilities.
The US military refused permission for a convoy of Red Crescent trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies to advance in the city, arguing that its troops can do anything needed, that only a few civilians are involved and that it was too dangerous for the convoy.
The Red Crescent fears civilians are dying from starvation and said it had tried for two days to persuade US commanders to give the green light for the convoy to move freely through the city.
The military had allowed them to enter the general hospital on the western edge of the battle-scarred city on Saturday, but forbade the aid workers from going further, citing security reasons.
The dangers facing both civilians and aid workers was underscored in a military statement, which said: "In the last 24 hours, multinational force aircraft flew several close air support missions, attacking anti-Iraqi forces (US terminology for insurgents) in numerous buildings throughout the city."
One warplane blasted an underground bunker complex of steel-reinforced tunnels in the very south of Fallujah during a pre-dawn raid, which appeared to have been used by rebels to mount attacks.
There appeared to be no sign of a let-up in rebel battle that undermines the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi as it tries to prepare the country for national elections promised by January.
Over the weekend, clashes erupted in the centre of Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, with the two sides exchanging automatic gunfire and rockets. They were particularly heavy close to the police headquarters in the Zanjali area, an AFP reporter said.
A spokesman with the US-led task force Olympia in Mosul said the insurgents were still active Monday around police stations but that they did not occupy any of them.
"We are reoccupying some of the police stations right now," said Captain Duane Limpert, adding that several hundred Iraqi army commandos had been sent from Baghdad to reinforce local security forces.
Skirmishes also broke out in Ramadi, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Fallujah, where six Iraqis were killed and five wounded Sunday.
Hitting Iraq where it hurts the most economically, attackers set off four bombs by oil wells in the Kirkuk region of northern Iraq on Sunday, triggering fires, a security officer for the installations said.
Major Hammodi Ali, commander of the force tasked with guarding al-Khabbaza oil field told AFP on Monday: "Oil wells are still on fire, after they were attacked yesterday by a group of 30 to 40 saboteurs who set up explosives in a number of oil wells to the west of Kirkuk."
"This is the first time, oil fields are targeted in al-Khabbaz oil field since the invasion," he said, adding that bombs had also been planted in some other wells but had not exploded.
In a separate incident, a secondary oil pipeline carrying oil to Baiji refineries was set ablaze at around 3:00 am near the village of al-Sagheera, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) west of Kirkuk, a local official told AFP.
At the start of the month, a series of attacks on a pipeline network halted vital exports from Kirkuk to Turkey.
The attacks, which had little immediate impact on world oil prices, dealt a new blow to Iraq's efforts to boost exports from the north and bring in more much-needed revenue for post-war reconstruction.
11/15/2004 - 13:03 GMT - AFP