US checkpoints try to halt rebel passage into Iraq's Fallujah

[Barrett808]

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - US and Iraqi security forces have virtually sealed off the former rebel bastion of Fallujah, but insurgents continue to stage hit-and-run attacks in this Sunni stronghold, according to a top US marine.

"Fallujah remains fatal as insurgents continue to carry out attacks against security forces," Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph L'Etoile, commanding officer of the US marines in southern Fallujah, told AFP.

Fierce fighting between insurgents and US-led forces has killed hundreds of rebels in the flashpoint town of Fallujah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, where four US contractors in March 2004 were brutally murdered, their bodies burned and dragged through the streets by cheering mobs.

US forces recaptured Fallujah in November following a major offensive, but this remains "a symbolic town for insurgents and any successful attack sends a strong message across Iraq," L'Etoile said.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050730/pl_afp/iraqfallujahinsurgency_050730175030%3b_ylt=A9FJqZTKwutCDSEAKgmsOrgF%3b_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[mirandapriestly]

1. Don't they have underground passageways?

I remember reading that. In any case, like Vietnam, they know the territory and the people much better than the US

[Barrett808]

2. Saddam built many, and I can only guess that the insurgency has dug more

There's also a very old smuggler culture in Iraq that probably gives the insurgency some know-how.