Baghdad, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi troops recaptured police stations and secured bridges in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday in an offensive aimed at pushing out fighters supporting the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
Troops met "very little resistance" in securing several of the dozen or so police stations that had been captured by insurgents, the U.S. military command said. Nineveh province's deputy governor said militants blew up the Zuhour police station ahead of the U.S. advance, but the U.S military denied any stations were destroyed.
Loud explosions and gunfire could be heard as U.S. warplanes and helicopters circled over Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city.
Mortar shells hit two areas near the main government building in the city center, killing three civilians and wounding 25, hospital officials said. One American soldier was wounded when a car bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy in western Mosul, the military said.
The U.S.-led offensive is aimed at seizing control of the city 225 miles north of Baghdad, where gunmen stormed police stations, bridges and political offices last week. The city's police force was overwhelmed and in many places failed to even put up a fight. Some officers also allegedly cooperated with insurgents.
The operation was launched after U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements were rushed to Mosul. A U.S. Army infantry battalion was recalled from the fighting in Fallujah, 300 Iraqi National Guard soldiers came from garrisons along the borders with Iran and Syria and a special police battalion was sent from Baghdad.
U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Angela Bowman said the attack began Tuesday as troops closed Mosul's five bridges and American soldiers began securing police stations in the western part of the city.
"We are in the process of securing all of the police stations and returning the police to these stations," she said.
Second-deadliest month
A U.S. Marine of the 1st Division walks Monday through the western part of Fallujah, Iraq. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. Military attention turned in part to Mosul on Tuesday, as U.S. forces tried to push out fighters supporting the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
A U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded north of Baghdad on Tuesday when a bomb detonated near their convoy, the U.S. military said.
Stepped-up assaults on insurgents in Fallujah and elsewhere have pushed the U.S. death toll to at least 91 in November, making it the second-deadliest month for American troops since the Iraq invasion in March 2003, Pentagon figures show. The worst month was April, with 135 deaths, when Marines fought fierce battles in Fallujah, only to be withdrawn.
Marine under investigation
The U.S. military said it was investigating the fatal shooting of a wounded "enemy combatant" by a Marine in a Fallujah mosque over the weekend. The inquiry was begun after videotaped pool pictures taken Saturday by NBC showed the incident during an operation of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
The Marine was removed from the battlefield pending the results of the investigation, the military said.
"We follow the law of armed conflict and hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability," said Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons involved."
Unpopular arrest
In Baghdad, U.S. troops arrested Naseer Ayaef, a deputy head of the Iraqi National Council and a high-ranking member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, said Ayad al-Samarrai, an official in the influential Sunni Muslim political party.
Al-Samarrai contended the arrest was retaliation for the party's criticism of the Fallujah offensive and opposition to security policies of the U.S. command and Iraq's interim government.
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