An audiotape posted Friday on an Islamist website and attributed to Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, called on fighters in Fallujah to resist US forces who launched an offensive this week to retake the city.
"Oh heroes of Islam in Fallujah: blessed be your Jihad ... wait another hour and you will harvest results, God willing," said the voice attributed to Zarqawi.
"We can no longer doubt that the signs of victory are beginning to appear on the horizon," he said, calling on "the heroes of Iraq ... to come help" fighters in Fallujah and "burn the ground beneath the feet of the invaders."
In the city itself the fighting continued for the fifth day. A Fierce battle broke out between American occupation soldiers and Iraqi resistance fighters near a mosque in Jolan district, reports said Friday. In an earlier incident, two US casualties were seen being evacuated from the district.
By Friday, the US military said it controls most of Fallujah after five days of fighting in the city, according to The AP.
Late Thursday, Marines found the Syrian driver captured with two French journalists in August inside an undisclosed location in Fallujah. Capt. Ed Bitanga said the man told military officials he had been separated from the journalists about a month ago.
In Mosul, a US soldier was shot dead. The US military said Friday the soldier was killed by small arms fire during combat operations in Mosul.
Also in this northern city, armed attackers raided the main headquarters of a key Kurdish political party and assassinated a senior police officer. (albawaba.com)
