Fallujah fighters try to escape U.S. cordon; insurgents strike police stat [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Fallujah fighters try to escape U.S. cordon; insurgents strike police stations in Mosul
By Edward Harris, Associated Press, 11/12/2004 02:31


FALLUJAH, Iraq U.S. troops pounded insurgents in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, after guerrillas attacked police stations and bridges in an apparent attempt to relieve pressure on Fallujah, where American forces continued their assault on the rebel stronghold.

Insurgents Thursday tried to break through the U.S. cordon surrounding Fallujah, where an estimated 600 insurgents, 18 U.S. troops and five Iraqi soldiers have been killed in the four-day assault, the U.S. military said. At least 178 Americans and 34 Iraqi soldiers have been wounded.

Smoke rose over Mosul on Thursday as U.S. warplanes streaked overhead. City officials warned residents to stay away from the five major bridges. Militants brandishing rocket-propelled grenades stood in front of a hospital.

Saadi Ahmed, a senior member of the pro-American Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, said nine police stations were attacked and that ''Iraqi police turned some stations over to the terrorists.''
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