Troops find hostage 'slaughterhouses' a) in Falluja
Coalition forces say 70 percent of city is under control
Wednesday, November 10, 2004 Posted: 9:04 PM EST (0204 GMT)

Marines rush to a helicopter to evacuate a person injured in Wednesday's fighting in Falluja.

(Witchy's note: the images were not on the original CNN page)

FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi troops retaking the city of Falluja have found hostage "slaughterhouses" where people were held captive and beheaded, b) an Iraqi military official c) said Wednesday.

Soldiers found d) CDs labeled "beheading of ..." and showing the decapitations of hostages.

Black clothing and masks worn by the kidnappers when they made the videos were found, along with banners hoisted in the background, according to Iraqi and U.S. military officials.

Soldiers e) said it was apparent that numerous killings had taken place there.

Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader, commander of Iraqi forces in the battle, said he was unsure whether the hostage records included the names of f) kidnapped British aid worker Margaret Hassan or French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, g) a car bomb detonated Wednesday near an emergency police patrol killed at least seven people and wounded three police officers, said Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman, spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of Interior.

And a U.S. soldier was killed and another is listed in stable condition after an Army 1st Infantry patrol was hit by a roadside bomb near Balad, north of Baghdad early Wednesday, a military statement said.

Resistance lighter than expected h)
Military officials in Falluja said Wednesday that combined U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken control of about 70 percent of the city on the third day of the ground offensive, including key buildings.

Troops had expected to encounter heavy urban fighting in their push to clear the city of insurgents before elections in January. So far, however, they have found resistance to be lighter than anticipated.

Troops have seized the mayor's office, as well as several mosques and bridges, military officials said.

An estimated 10,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines, along with about 2,000 troops from Iraq's new army, have been running into small pockets of fighters as they fight their way through the city.

The offensive launched Sunday is dubbed i) Operation New Dawn and targets an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 insurgents. A senior Pentagon official told CNN more than 500 insurgents j) have been killed in the fighting. (Gallery)

k) Eleven U.S. troops and two Iraqis have been killed since fighting began, officials said Wednesday. Nine Iraqi soldiers and an unknown number of Ministry of Interior personnel have been injured.

One of the Army's most senior enlisted soldiers -- Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Faulkenburg, 45, of Huntingburg, Indiana -- was killed Tuesday by a gunshot wound to the head while conducting combat operations in Falluja, Army sources said.

Strongholds in and around the city have been destroyed, including defensive positions on the outskirts of the city. Combat units report finding l) several weapons and explosives caches, along with car bombs and other homemade explosives.

Military officials said two mosques have been searched because weapons were believed to be hidden inside. m) In an effort to preserve the cultural sensitivity of mosques, only Iraqi forces are sent inside.

U.S. military policy is that, when mosques are used as firing positions, their sanctity is forfeited. "Today, we saw again the terrorists' practice of abusing public buildings and religious sites to carry out their attacks against Iraqi and multinational forces," said Thair al-Nakib, spokesman for interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Falluja's Khilafa al-Rashid mosque was being used as a base for military operations, he said. After small-arms fire failed, precision airstrikes were used to secure the area.

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