- A massive US ground offensive on Fallujah yesterday has
ended in humiliating defeat for the Americans. While dust storms disabled
US airpower, matters were further complicated when Allawi troops fled the
battleground after 15 minutes of fighting and Mujahideen launched
devastating
attacks under the cover of poor visibility.
-
- In a new development on the Fallujah battlefield, US
forces attempted to wage a massive ground offensive on the city yesterday
to destroy the center of the Resistance in the south of the city, but were
repulsed by the Mujahideen. In news received from Mafkarat al-Islam, the
details on the situation were revealed in a report filed at 7:20pm last
night Mecca time.
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- Shaykh As'ad ad-Dulaymi, official spokesman for the
city's
Mujahideen, said that more than 400 US tanks and 200 armored vehicles took
part in the attack along with about 4,000 US troops, in addition to support
from Allawi "national guards," in what was the biggest massing
of US forces in the battle for the city so far. No other attack of this
scale had been mounted either in this offensive or in the first siege of
Fallujah in April 2004. Ad-Dulaymi said that the Americans apparently
wanted
to make today the last day of the resistance in Fallujah.
-
- US forces began to amassing troops at 8am, local time
yesterday that required Mujahideen, to move out of the al-'Askari and
al-Wahdah
neighborhoods and into the southern part of the city where they could help
defend the main center of the resistance in the an-Nazal
neighborhood.
-
- Shaykh ad-Dulaymi said that the American attack began
at 10:30am. Just fifteen minutes into the battle, the Allawi "national
guard" fled from the battle field, and ultimately from the whole
battle
zone, leaving the US forces to fight the Mujahideen alone. With the Allawi
troops out of the way, US forces had to take up front line
positions.
-
- The first sign that the Americans were beginning to
falter
came at about 12 noon when US occupation troops also began to flee from
the battlefield, abandoning their weapons. The gradual collapse of the
US lines continued until victory was granted to the Mujahideen at 3:15pm
when the US troops began their withdrawal from the battle field towards
the east and to the Nuwwab ad-Dubbat, al-Mu'allimin, and the Jami' al-Aqsa
areas at the northern extremities of Fallujah adjacent to the railroad
tracks.
-
- US forces used loudspeakers to call for a one-hour truce
in order to remove their wounded from the battle theatre. The Americans
addressed the Mujahideen by saying "If you are real fighters, then
display chivalry." The Mujahideen responded with hand-held microphones
from a mosque, reading out a statement written by Shaykh Abu As'ad
ad-Dulaymi
in which he said that Allah had commanded them "not to have faith
in the Christians, Jews, and infidels among you." He said, "You
speak of chivalry now after you have suffered the pain and humiliation
of punishment. So taste what you have been promised." The Mujahideen
read Shaykh ad-Dulaymi's statement four times while the Americans made
their same appeal dozens of times over.
-
- US warplanes initially took part in the attacks on the
city, but at 1:30 pm, US bombers dropped "friendly fire" on a
unit of US troops by mistake, due to poor visibility. The air campaign
was subsequently halted.
-
- Shaykh ad-Dulaymi said that it was impossible at that
time to give an accurate count of US losses, but that 90 clouds of thick
black smoke mixed with flame were rising into the sky - signs of destroyed
US vehicles, most of them Abrams tanks and Bradley armored vehicles. He
said that the Mujahideen pursued the retreating Americans who fled along
various routes and that there were indications that some Americans had
been taken prisoner.
-
- Shaykh Abu As'ad ad-Dulaymi praised the mercy of Allah
for the fact that as the Americans gathered for battle at 8am the skies
were clear, but then winds began to pick up and intensify until by 9am
there was a yellow dust storm blowing that reduced visibility to less than
10 meters. This allowed the Mujahideen to take cover from the aircraft
and tanks and to move about with ease being accustom to these conditions
while the dust storm paralyzed US forces.
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- The American defeat Wednesday is the biggest American
defeat ever in the city of Fallujah since the start of the US aggression
against it. It is evident that the Mujahideen have learned their lessons
very well from earlier attacks. It should be remembered that yesterday's
storm was a factor that worked to the great advantage of the Mujahideen
while preventing the Americans from using their airpower. In addition,
the storm distracted US troops on the ground while facilitating surprise
guerrilla attacks by the Mujahideen that sowed great confusion in the ranks
of the Americans however the situation is fluid and remains volatile.
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