Time Magazine November 22, 2004
Storming Fallujah
Six armored columns of U.S. forces drove into the heart of the Iraqi insurgency last week. Fighting was close and fierce at times, but even as troops took control of most of the city, more violence flared across Iraq
MARINES
3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment
MARINES
3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment
ARMY INFANTRY
2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment
MARINES
1st Battalion, 8th Regiment
MARINES
1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment
ARMY INFANTRY
2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment
JOLAN NEIGHBORHOOD
As Marines pushed south, U.S.-trained Iraqi forces patrolled the area, searching for insurgents and weapons caches
U.S. and Iraqi forces captured Fallujah's main hospital and two bridges as the campaign began
NO ESCAPE
U.S.-led troops kept a tight security cordon around the town. Late in the week, helicopter gunships attacked a group of insurgents trying to flee the city by boat
HIGHWAY 10
An early goal of the assault was to sweep through to this main east-west highway, cutting the city in half and pushing insurgent fighters south
SHUHADA NEIGHBORHOOD
Fighting intensified as U.S.-led forces pushed through the city. Insurgents were reported to be using defensive trenches for cover
MUHAMMUDIA MOSQUE
Insurgents had been using the building as a command center. U.S. troops secured the area after an intense fire fight. Insurgents reportedly tried a counterattack but failed
FALLUJAH
Known as the City of Mosques, Fallujah had an estimated population of 300,000, about the same as Tampa, Fla. U.S. officials said that at least 70% of the people fled before the battle
DEADLY DEVICES
Insurgents set booby traps throughout the city. One type of those improvised devices is made by wiring a cell phone to an artillery shell and burying it in the street. The device is detonated by dialing the phone
MASSIVE FIREPOWER ABOVE...
The AC-130 Spectre gunship is a giant flying artillery platform. Its complex fire-control systems can pinpoint an individual structure or level entire areas in seconds
- Crew 14
- Tactics
The aircraft can be refueled while flying, allowing it to remain over targets for extended periods to support troops on the ground
- Speed
Up to 300 m.p.h. (483 km/h)
...CONSTANT DANGER BELOW
To avoid getting caught in house-to-house fighting, U.S. forces sealed off some areas where insurgents were believed to be hiding, leaving them for later search-and-destroy missions
Insurgent snipers hid in buildings and fired from rooftops
In addition to providing cover for ambushers, tightly packed buildings hinder communications and reduce the mobility prozed by U.S. forces
Before the attack, planners employed an array of high-tech sensors to plot the location of booby traps, then used precision strikes to take them out
Machine guns mounted an armored humviees provide mobile firepower to squads moving through narrow streets
Source: AP; Globalsecurity.org; Federation of American Scientists; BBC News; TIME reporting
© Copyright 2004, Time Inc.
