BAGHDAD, Nov 5: US troops urged civilians to flee Fallujah on Friday and launched air strikes on the city in preparation for an assault seen as critical to attempts to pacify Iraq before elections in January.
The occupation forces sealed all roads to the city and used loudspeakers and leaflets in Arabic to tell residents they would detain any man under 45 trying to enter or leave the city.
"We are making last preparations. It will be soon. We are just awaiting orders from Prime Minister (Iyad) Allawi," Marine Colonel Michael Shupp said. Many residents have already fled the city of 300,000.
Friday's warning to Fallujah residents included an appeal to hand over "terrorists" to US troops. Shupp said anywhere between 1,000 and 6,000 guerillas were holed up in the city.
The US military says the assault on Fallujah will succeed where an April one failed because this time it will be ordered by an Iraqi government and Iraqi forces will be involved. In April, Iraqi units refused to fight for the US-led occupation.
The April battles, which coincided with a revolt in the south, sparked a wave of kidnappings of foreigners aimed at driving the occupation forces and foreign workers from Iraq.
Warplanes and artillery bombarded Fallujah on Friday, residents said, and guerillas fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at US forces on the city's outskirts. Ambulances were waiting for fighting to ease before venturing on to the streets.
The US military said air raids had destroyed a command post, arms caches and guerilla positions. Hospital workers in Fallujah said the strikes had killed three people, wounded four and destroyed five houses.
The military also said two marines were killed and four wounded in combat on Thursday in Anbar province, home to Fallujah and the city of Ramadi, also expected to be part of any assault. Iraq's interim premier Iyad Allawi was meeting European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday and was expected to return to Iraq after that.
EU HELP: The 25-nation bloc is providing a modest 16.5 million-euro (21-million dollar) package to support the elections and to help a possible U.N. protection force for the polls, due on Jan 27.
The United States and Britain hope a successful election will help defuse the increasingly stiff resistance that has blighted their success in toppling Saddam Hussein.
The timing may hang on the outcome of the Fallujah offensive to crush Saddam loyalists and militants led by Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who have claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest bombings.
HOSTAGE FREED: A Nepalese cook abducted on Monday from an office in Baghdad has been freed, foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday. Captors have also released two Lebanese hostages held in Iraq for five weeks, a Lebanese foreign ministry source said. -Reuters
