November 11 2004 at 09:15AM

Insurgents targeting Iraqi forces in Fallujah

By Michael Georgy

Fallujah - US Marines shelled targets in Fallujah on Thursday after saying they had seized 70 percent of the city and vowing to hunt down surviving rebels.

"There are large numbers of US forces across Fallujah, based on information from tanks going in and out, and from radio traffic," Marine Master Sergeant Roy Meek said.

Meek, whose tank company operates in north-west Fallujah, was speaking after Marine artillery opened up on targets in the nearby Jolan district, scene of some of the fiercest fighting since a full-scale assault on Fallujah began on Monday night.

'They are now in small pockets, blind, moving throughout the city'

Another Marine, who asked not to be named, said he had seen large concentrations of US soldiers, Marines and support units gathering on the main highway that runs just east of Fallujah.
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About 10 000 US soldiers and Marines, backed by 2 000 Iraqi government troops, are engaged in the battle for Iraq's most rebellious city, 50km west of Baghdad.

With the offensive in its third full day, a death threat hung over three of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's relatives kidnapped by Islamist militants.

A militant group has threatened to behead Allawi's 75-year-old cousin Ghazi and two women relatives unless he calls off the assault. The government has said its policy will not change.

Insurgents have also hit back with bloody attacks in other towns and cities, mainly targeting Iraqi security forces.

'We will continue to hunt them down and destroy them'

The Kurdish provincial governor of Kirkuk escaped unhurt when a car bomb blew up near his convoy in the northern city on Thursday, police said. Sixteen people were wounded.

More than two dozen people, including two American soldiers, were killed in attacks in Baghdad and the north on Wednesday.

A Marine spokesperson said on the same day that US-led forces had taken 70 percent of Falluja, but did not have full control.