US bombs gut insurgent bunker complex

Page 2 of 2 -- Yesterday, Natonski said the operation was a success -- despite the eruption of violence in Mosul and other parts of the Sunni triangle -- because now it would not be easy for insurgents to establish a new base like the one they had in Fallujah.

ADVERTISEMENT

''When they're moving they're vulnerable," he said. ''They no longer have the sanctuary they used to have in Fallujah, where they could rest, refit, resupply, and go back out."

The insurgency had also lost an important symbol, he said.

''This was there in your face: 'We have Fallujah and you don't.' They can't say that anymore," Natonski said.

In an interview with Iraqi television, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi defended his decision to order the attack on Fallujah, saying he decided to strike after security forces arrested ''two very important" terrorist organizations. He did not elaborate.

Allawi said up to 400 insurgents have been captured, including fighters from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Morocco, but he gave no figures.

The First Infantry Division's Task Force 2-2 has captured five foreign fighters and killed five, officers said, adding that many foreign fighters appeared to be fleeing. A group of men in Afghan dress were seen running away, the officers said.

''They're leaving the native Fallujans to die in place," Natonski said.

The detainees included Palestinians, Jordanians, and Saudi Arabians.

The 2-2 task force commander, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Newell, said that US forces had also bombed the headquarters of Omar Hadid, one of the strongest resistance leaders in Fallujah.

Hadid is considered Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's top lieutenant in Fallujah, representing the most lethal core group of jihadi fighters in the city.

Newell said that 40 fighters were seen entering a building in a block believed to serve as Hadid's headquarters.

Troops called in airstrikes, Newell said, killing all but eight fighters who escaped.

Natonski said it was unclear if Hadid or any other key leaders such as Zarqawi had been killed or captured.

The task force intelligence officer briefed the First Infantry Division commander, Major General John Batiste, who also visited the command post, located in a dusty lot.

The intelligence officer described how at one site warplanes dropped a single bomb and two men emerged.

After a second bomb, a larger number of people fled, he said. After the third and largest bomb, several trucks drove out from the building.

Barnard reported from Fallujah, Stockman from Washington. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.