Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Thursday, 11 November 2004
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. (http://www.freearabvoice.org)

Thursday, 11 November 2004.


Al-Fallujah

Al-Fallujah Resistance pledged to die for their faith and city. Americans blow up the last medical facility in the defiant city.

In a dispatch posted at 2:45am Friday local time (1:45am Mecca time) Abu Sa‘d ath-Thallami denied claims by some news media that Resistance fighters had been surrendering and laying down their weapons.

Abu Sa‘d ath-Thallami told al-Jazeera TV by telephone that the defenders of al-Fallujah had pledged to one another to die in defense of their faith and city. Abu Sa‘d denied American claims that Resistance fighters had been using mosques as places from which to fire on the invaders or to take cover. He said that the occupation forces were inventing these lies as an excuse for blowing up the mosques which are so important to the Muslims.

Abu Sa‘d said that the US forces were waging a dirty war in al-Fallujah, striking the one remaining medical facility in the city, claiming that Resistance fighters were inside.

Resistance destroys 30 US tanks and captures two intact. American invaders expelled from areas they earlier took over.

In a dispatch posted at 2am Friday local time (1am Friday Mecca time) the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Fallujah reported that Abu Sa‘d ath-Thallami, a spokesman for the Consultative Council of the Mujahideen in al-Fallujah, announced that the young men of the al-Fallujah Resistance had inflicted great damage on attacking US forces.

Speaking by telephone to al-Jazeera satellite TV, Abu Sa‘d ath-Thallami said that the Resistance had set 30 US vehicles ablaze and captured two others in the al-Jawlan neighborhood, where two tanks had been encircled and abandoned by their crews amidst a great many other wrecked tanks. The young men of the Resistance, he said, have seized those two tanks.

Abu Sa‘d said that as regards the situation on the ground in the city, the Resistance had been able to take back the areas into which the American forces had penetrated in their initial break through. The Resistance had expelled the Americans from most of al-Jawlan, forcing them to concentrate on the edges of that neighborhood. In the al-Jaghifi neighborhood, the Resistance was able to offer prayers in the at-Tawfiq Mosque in the middle of the neighborhood after expelling the US forces.

Resistance shoots down six US helicopters in and around al-Fallujah on Thursday.

Iraqi Resistance fighters in al-Fallujah on Thursday shot down six US aircraft over the city and its environs. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Fallujah reported that the al-Fallujah Resistance shot down two US helicopters over the neighborhood of al-Jawlan and two more over the ash-Shuhada’ neighborhood inside the city proper.

In addition, on Thursday evening al-Jazeera satellite TV relayed a statement by a US military source that two American Cobra helicopters had been shot down near al-Fallujah, not inside the city. Al-Jazeera aired scenes of the flaming wreckage of a US helicopter in al-Karmah, north of al-Fallujah, but did not mention where the other helicopter fell, other than to say that it was near al-Fallujah.

Doctors and nurses martyred by American fire on their way to help the people of al-Fallujah.

In a dispatch posted at 12:25am Friday local time (11:25pm Thursday evening Mecca time) the al-Fallujah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported as follows:

In answer to appeals from administrative staff of al-Fallujah General Hospital to help their brothers and sisters in al-Fallujah, 50 doctors and nurses gathered in nearby as-Saqlawiyah and set out Thursday afternoon for the defiant city of al-Fallujah, upon which the US aggressors are inflicting savage death and destruction, occupying their hospital and deploying snipers atop its roof to shoot down anyone who dares approach it.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Fallujah confirmed that the doctors and nurses arrived near the city where they got out of their cars in order to slip into al-Fallujah individually so as to avoid being stopped by the American military.

The volunteers walked to a branch of the Euphrates River, and on crossing it were entering al-Fallujah when US snipers opened fire on them. Seventeen of the doctors and nurses were shot dead as they crossed the river, which is between 150 and 170 meters wide. The survivors continued across and made it to the defiant city, many of them wounded to varying degrees by the American gunfire.

Resistance blows up large US supply depot in al-Jawlan neighborhood.

In a dispatch posted at 11:40pm local time (10:40pm Mecca time) Mafkarat al-Islam’s al-Fallujah correspondent reported that on Thursday evening, Iraqi Resistance forces had bombarded an ice factory in the center of the al-Jawlan neighborhood, in which US invaders had parked vehicles and stored equipment. The factory had a floor space of nearly 5,000 square meters occupied by Humvees for carrying equipment. Large numbers of tanks and armored vehicles surrounded the factory.

The correspondent reported that the Iraqi Resistance had expected that the American invaders would use the factory as a storage depot or headquarters and therefore they mined the building prior to the US assault. Thursday night Resistance forces bombarded the bobby-trapped factory with mortars, setting off a thunderous explosion followed by massive secondary blasts that were still continuing until the time of writing of the dispatch. The explosions were so massive that their effects could be seen five kilometers away.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Resistance forces in the al-Jaghifi neighborhood wiped out a US column. The Resistance first allowed the US troops to enter the neighborhood and then fell on them, wiping them out to the last man.

Resistance launch powerful attack on US forces north of al-Fallujah Thursday night.

In a dispatch posted at 10:25pm local time Thursday night (9:25pm Mecca time) the al-Fallujah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces launched a fierce attack on US forces Thursday evening.

The Resistance attack began when Resistance forces from the northern, northeastern, and northwestern parts of al-Fallujah opened fire in an intense rocket barrage on the rear lines of the US forces. Powerful Tariq and Grad rockets slammed into the American rear lines, as the Resistance fighters targeted American troop concentrations in the area of the cemetery near the train station, as well as the American rear.

After softening up the US positions, the Resistance launched a powerful ground attack at 7:45pm Thursday night that sowed confusion in the ranks of the American troops in that sector of the front.

An hour later, at 8:45pm the Resistance began to pull back to its bases, but in doing so showered the US positions with another barrage of rockets, this time including four high explosive Ababil missiles in the attack, producing massive explosions in the ranks of the American troops.

At the time of writing, the correspondent noted, Resistance fighters were still bombarding US troops with rockets.

As regards US losses, Iraqi Resistance sources told Mafkarat al-Islam that as of 80pm the Resistance had destroyed four US tanks in the al-Jawlan neighborhood.

US B-52 strategic bombers take part in pounding al-Fallujah as Americans drop heat bombs.

In a dispatch posted at 4:15pm local time (3:15pm Mecca time) the al-Fallujah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that as part of America’s continued effort to massacre the people of al-Fallujah, US aircraft had been dropping heat bombs on the city and that American B-52 strategic bombers took part in pounding the besieged city on Wednesday.

The correspondent reported that the US was dropping heat bombs that reduce the amount of oxygen in the air. B-52s had also taken part in the raids and on the ground American tank cannon and rockets had also been pounding the city. On Wednesday, however, for once al-Fallujah was not hit with anti-personnel cluster bombs.

People of al-Fallujah appeal for help.

The people of al-Fallujah, under savage American assault, have issued an appeal for assistance to the world, requesting intervention to put a stop to American aggression and help in with its tragic situation.

The people of al-Fallujah, in their statement urged people of conscience in the world to help them overcome the humanitarian crisis that they face as a result of the brutal American offensive on their city.

The appeal came after American invader forces had cut off electricity, water, medical support, and access to other necessities from the city’s residents in an attempt to subjugate the city to their imperial control. The result is a disastrous situation in which the population suffers from hunger and thirst.

Statement in name of al-Fallujah Resistance – Iraq mobile phone company must stop collaborating with the US and re-open phone lines or their facilities would be targeted throughout all occupied Iraq.

The Iraqi Resistance on Thursday issued a statement – a copy of which was received by Mafkarat al-Islam – in which they warned the Iraqi mobile telephone company that their offices and branch locations would be attacked if they did not cease serving as “lackeys” of the US occupation.

The statement, signed the Council of Mujahideen of al-Fallujah [Majlis Mujahidi al-Fallujah], threatened the ‘Iraquna Company mobile telephone firm and demanded that it stop collaborating with the US occupation. It also demanded that it re-open the telephone lines that it had shut down for the many people who want to spread the word of their ordeal outside of Iraq, in particular in view of the information blockade imposed by the US occupation on the reality being endured by Iraqi civilians.

The statement gave the ‘Iraquna Company until 9pm Thursday to carry out the Resistance orders. If it fails to do so, it will be subject to Resistance attack throughout the entire length and breadth of occupied Iraq.

Mafkarat al-Islam cautioned that it had no way of verifying the provenance of the statement.

Resistance pounds American forces at midday as they try to penetrate the city from the south.

In a dispatch posted at 3:15pm local time (2:15pm Mecca time) the al-Fallujah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that at about 10pm the Iraqi Resistance had mounted a powerful attack on American troop concentrations south of the city. Combat is less intense on the northern side of the city, he wrote.

At about 10pm local time the Resistance fired powerful barrages of rockets and mortar rounds at US troop concentrations to the south of al-Fallujah as they tried to break into the city there. At the moment of writing fierce battles were also under way in the north of the city, albeit less intense than those now raging in the south of al-Fallujah.

Fighting is also under way on the eastern and western sides of the city.

Earlier, the Iraqi Resistance bombarded several US positions around al-Fallujah. They also struck the US base in the agricultural area to the north east of the city Thursday morning with powerful Tariq and Grad rockets.

Al-Jazeera: Americans confined to main streets as fighting rages.

During the day on Thursday al-Jazeera’s correspondent Fadil Badran, speaking from a position in the city set aside for al-Jazeera, reported that US forces had penetrated up to a kilometer into the city, but that fierce fighting was raging and the neighborhoods and branch roads were still in the hands of the Resistance, with the Americans confined just to the main thoroughfares.

Details on the course of the battle in al-Fallujah on Wednesday.

The correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in al-Fallujah wrote on Thursday that Iraqi Resistnace forces in defiant al-Fallujah had inflicted heavy losses in battles with the invading Americans on the day before.

The al-Fallujah Resistance fighters used the strategy of street warfare in Wednesday’s fighting in extremely fierce combat in the northern part of the city, pushing the Americans to the utmost in the fight. Then the Resistance feigned a withdrawal into the city, encouraging the American forces to advance until they reached the center of al-Fallujah.

Before US troops could concentrate in the center of the city, however, Iraqi Resistance units attacked the Americans from all sides, dividing the invader forces into six groups, in accordance with what appeared to be a pre-arranged plan.

The first segment of the divided American forces headed for the area of the al-Jawlan neighborhood. The second found itself between the al-Muhandisin neighborhood and the al-Hadrah Mosque. The third US segment made for al-Hadrah Street between the ash-Shurtah and the ad-Dubbat neighborhoods. The fourth segment of the divided US forces spread out on the circle in the center of the city. On the main public road the fifth segment of the American troops could be seen on the street’s western side, while the east side of the main road was where the sixth segment of the US forces wound up.

Fierce battles raged in all six areas, costing the Americans heavily in casualties. After a time, the six beleaguered American units tried to regroup together and escape in the direction of the an-Nazal neighborhood, but those survivers were hit by more Resistance ambushes.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent cautioned that street fighting is characterized by rapid changes of fortune, and that it does not usually continue to the advantage of one side or the other for long periods, but shift rapidly back and forth.

The al-Fallujah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that in the course of Wednesday’s combat, Iraqi Resistance fighters had destroyed 14 US tanks on the main street linking the Old Road and the ar-Ramadi Road. The zone of fighting extended from the point where the highway begins to the east to the new bridge in the west.

Informed sources told the correspondent that the US troops were using tanks as troop transports when they attack cities, since traditional troop transport vehicles and Humvees are too easy to destroy. As a result, the sources estimate that every destroyed tank would have been carrying about nine American troops.

Six of the US tanks were destroyed on al-Hadrah Street in the area between the al-‘Askari neighborhood and the first and second ad-Dubbat neighborhoods to the south, and the ash-Shurtah neighborhood to the north.

Six more tanks were surrounded and blown up, but the men inside fled. Those incidents occurred in the ash-Shuhada’ and an-Nazal neighborhoods, where Resistance fighters ambushed the US troops when they tried to flee.

A member of the Council of Mujahideen of al-Fallujah told Mafkarat al-Islam that the crews of four US tanks were captured on the southern side of ath-Tharthar street. The Mujahid Councilman did not give the exact number of the prisoners but said that one of them was a general who told him, “the Resistance is a mountain that won’t be shaken. I couldn’t relax until I was captured because I saw death coming at me from everywhere.”

Sources in the Council of Mujahideen of al-Fallujah told Mafkarat al-Islam that more Americans, who were in two armored vehicles, were taken prisoner in the al-Jawlan neighborhood. Those sources also declined to give the exact number of those captives.

Fierce fighting continued in the neighborhoods of al-‘Askari, al-Jaghifi, and al-Muhandisin, but figures on losses are not available.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent noted in his Thursday afternoon dispatch that there were US tanks that had been surrounded in the area of the al-Hadrah Mosque since the day before, Wednesday. The troops inside have not been able to come out of their vehicles until now, he wrote in a dispatch posted Thursday at 5:20pm local time (4:20pm Mecca time). The Resistance has been trying to blow up the tanks from a distance, but have not been able to get close enough to do so, due to the presence of American snipers on rooftops near by, covering the tanks. Resistance fighters consider that area a very difficult place in which to fight, because of the snipers and because it is exposed to the sky where US helicopters are on the prowl.

American press admits 215 seriously wounded troops evacuated from al-Fallujah to Germany, casting doubt on Pentagon casualty claims.

The American Associated Press (AP) admitted on Thursday that the huge American campaign against al-Fallujah had sent “a stream of American wounded” to the US military’s main hospital in Europe. The AP wrote “planes carrying around 90 bloodied and broken troops were expected Thursday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. They join 125 wounded soldiers flown there already this week.”

The AP acknowledged that such a large number of American wounded cast doubt on the absurdly low casualty figures being quoted by US military officials. “The large number of wounded sent to Germany,” the AP commented shyly, “suggests that fighting may be more intense – at least in some areas – than the military had initially indicated. Only seriously wounded troops are flown to Landstuhl.”