FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. warplanes and artillery attacked Sunni insurgents in a thunderous show of force that rocked Fallujah yesterday, sending huge plumes of smoke into the night sky. The assault on a slum area came after American troops reported killing 64 gunmen near the southern city of Najaf.
An American soldier was killed in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll for the month to 115 the same number lost during the major-combat phase of the war that toppled Saddam Hussein last year. Up to 1,200 Iraqis have been killed this month.
The second straight night of battles in Fallujah came as an extension of a fragile cease-fire ended. Marines have been preparing to begin patrols with Iraqi forces later this week in the turbulent city west of Baghdad.
The fighting yesterday appeared far heavier than the clashes during the previous night in which a Marine and eight insurgents were killed suggesting that U.S. forces were trying to wear down gunmen in the Jolan neighborhood, a district of alleyways and ramshackle houses.
An AC-130, a powerful gunship that can unleash a deluge of ordnance, joined 105mm howitzers in opening up on insurgent targets in the neighborhood. Gunfire and explosions reverberated for nearly two hours.
Fires were visible in the Jolan neighborhood, and mosque loudspeakers elsewhere in the city called for firefighters. U.S. aircraft dropped white leaflets over Fallujah before nightfall, calling on insurgents to give up.
“Surrender, you are surrounded,” the leaflets said. “If you are a terrorist, beware, because your last day was yesterday. In order to spare your life, end your actions and surrender to coalition forces now. We are coming to arrest you.”
Fighting also broke out in Baghdad and in the south, where U.S. forces are in a standoff with militiamen loyal to Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shi’ite cleric accused in the slaying of a fellow cleric.
U.S. forces killed 64 Iraqis on Monday and yesterday in battles with militiamen outside the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.
The United States is trying to re-establish control of the country ahead of the installation of a new Iraqi government on June 30.
Two nights of battles in Fallujah have strained U.S. attempts to find a way to avoid a resumption of the full-fledged fighting that killed hundreds of Iraqis early this month. At least eight Marines have died in the fighting.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday that continuing negotiations in Fallujah was “worth the try.”
“I think that realistically if you’ve got some very tough people in a city that are terrorists that you have to expect that they’re not going to be terribly cooperative,” he said. “Now, does that mean that something can’t be worked out? No.”
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon might send more tanks and armored vehicles to Iraq.
Commanders have indicated that they might ask for “heavier equipment to go in,” Gen. Myers said. “I’ve not seen that request yet, so I don’t know where it stands.”
The Pentagon is sending additional armored Humvees to better protect forces from attack by homemade bombs or rocket-propelled grenades, Gen. Myers said.
Some of the bombs being used by the insurgents are built around 155 mm artillery shells that have been powerful enough to blow over U.S. tanks, he said.
South of Baghdad yesterday, U.S. troops battled al-Sadr loyalists on the east side of the Euphrates River, outside the cities of Najaf and Kufa.
The first fight occurred in the afternoon, when the militiamen fired on a U.S. patrol. This prompted a firefight in which seven insurgents were killed.
Hours later, an M1 tank was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades. A heavy battle erupted, during which warplanes destroyed an antiaircraft gun belonging to the militia and 57 gunmen were killed, Gen. Kimmitt said.
Najaf hospitals listed 37 dead, all young men of fighting age. Al-Sadr aides said civilians also died, but could not say how many.
Two-hundred U.S. troops have moved into a base in Najaf to replace Spanish troops and try to increase the pressure on Sheik al-Sadr. The Americans have said that they will avoid the Shi’ite holy shrines about three miles away in the heart of Najaf.
Fewer al-Sadr fighters were seen yesterday on the streets of Najaf and nearby Kufa, where they have been digging in during the past week against any U.S. attack.
About 2,000 U.S. troops are deployed outside Najaf, the holiest Shi’ite city in the country. Any action bringing harm to the Imam Ali shrine in the city could turn the limited al-Sadr revolt into a widespread uprising by the country’s Shi’ite majority.
• Staff writer Bill Gertz in Washington contributed to this report.
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