Marine general: 'Enemy is broken' in Falluja
U.S. death toll in assault rises to 38; violence flares in Mosul
 |  A member of the 1st Marine Battalion, 8th Regiment, removes artillery found in a house in Falluja, Iraq, on Sunday. |
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| ON CNN TV |
 Watch for CNN correspondents' frequent updates on the situation on the ground: live reports from the U.S.-Iraqi offensive in Falluja.
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 Some civilians who stayed in Falluja have been injured or killed.
 U.S. says only pockets of insurgents still pose risk in Falluja.
 CNN's Nic Robertson travels with U.S. Marines through Falluja.
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FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces have "broken" the opposing forces in Falluja, a U.S. Marine commander said Sunday, but "isolated pockets" of insurgents remain in the restive city -- and have increased their activity elsewhere.
Marines spread through the deserted streets of Falluja, kicking in doors during a dangerous house-to-house search for insurgents -- targets of the U.S.-Iraqi military operation.
The weeklong assault on the city -- 30 miles west of Baghdad -- has killed 1,000 to 2,000 insurgents, Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler said.
In addition, 38 U.S. troops and six Iraqis have been killed, with 275 Americans wounded since operations began November 7, the U.S. military said in a statement. More than 60 of the wounded have returned to duty.
"The Iraqi government, supported by Multi-National Force-Iraq, is taking all necessary steps to meet the humanitarian needs of Fallujah's residents," the statement said. "Adequate quantities of food, water, and medical supplies are on hand and immediately available. Additionally, several non-governmental organizations are on scene providing further support."
Battle casualties received by doctors at the American military hospital in Germany have more than doubled since the Falluja operation began, the facility's commander said Sunday. (Full story)
"As of late last night, we have been in all parts of the city," Sattler told reporters. "We have liberated the city of Falluja."
"The enemy is broken," Sattler said, but troops "have to go back to still isolated pockets" of insurgents.
"If they are trapped and want to fight till death, we have no choice but to accommodate," the general said.
Sattler said the military had about 1,000 people in custody and expected that as many as 700 would be released after interrogation.
Sattler could not identify the nationality of those detained by the Marines, but a U.S. Army commander in the southeastern part of the city -- a stronghold of foreign fighters -- said they had captured five and killed five others.
Lt. Col. Pete Newell, commander of Task Force 2-2 of the 1st Infantry Division, said Iraqi forces found and handed over a Saudi, a Jordanian, a Palestinian and two other non-Iraqis who refused to give their nationalities.
Newell also said soldiers had recovered the bodies of two Syrians, an Afghan, an Egyptian and a Sudanese. The five captured men were wounded, he said.
Sattler accompanied the U.S. Central Command chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid, into the area. Abizaid spoke to many of the Marines and soldiers fighting the battle and told reporters they had "been very effective" in their efforts.
Earlier, Marine Lt. Gen. Richard Natanski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said the assault on Falluja had deprived the insurgents of their "base of operations."
But some insurgents fled Falluja in advance of the assault, and could launch attacks from elsewhere in the country. Before the assault, U.S. officials said it was likely that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among those who fled.
"We don't know where [al-Zarqawi] is right now," Sattler said. "Maybe he's dead; we don't know. But we never focused on him. We focused on ... reinstating the rule of law, which we are in the process of doing, and giving Falluja back to the Fallujan people, which will come fairly soon."
It's unclear how many civilians have been killed or wounded in the airstrikes or heavy ground battles that have gripped the city. Military officials said at least 14 civilians were wounded.
The London-based humanitarian group Amnesty International issued a statement Sunday, saying it feared a "failure by parties to the fighting to take precautions to protect non-combatants."
CNN's Jane Arraf, embedded with the Army, said the city was heavily damaged but that little was leveled, with many houses repairable.
Overnight, U.S. forces dropped four 2,000-pound, bunker-busting bombs on an underground complex used by insurgents, military officials said Sunday.
They said the site was stocked with medical and other supplies, and may be as large as 400 meters by 300 meters (1,300 feet by 1,000 feet) and lined with tunnels.
The military has destroyed similar sites throughout the week.
The United States has said the Falluja operation was aimed -- in large part -- at helping pave the way for elections to take place as scheduled in January.
It's unclear how many civilians remain in Falluja. The city's population was believed to be between 250,000 and 300,000, but U.S. and Iraqi officials estimated that 90 percent fled before the assault.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines reopened a bridge over the Euphrates River in Falluja where Iraqi mobs hanged the burned and mutilated bodies of two American contract workers March 31. The attack sparked the first major U.S. military operation in Falluja, in April.
Attacks target Mosul
A string of attacks in the northern city of Mosul culminated with a car bomb late Saturday that killed two Iraqi national guard troops and wounded three others.
Mosul's police director told CNN on Sunday that authorities will begin rebuilding the Iraqi police force throughout Ninevah province.
"We need to extract the infiltrators and those who have not committed to their duties within the police force and replace them with newly trained police officers," Maj. Gen. Salim al-Hajji Issa said.
In southern Mosul, U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Angela Bowman said there was fighting at the Sheikh Fathi police station. She described the insurgent presence in Mosul as "pockets of resistance across the city."
In addition, a car bomb in the al-Noor neighborhood of Mosul wounded eight Iraqi national guard members Saturday, the U.S. military said.
Other developments
Insurgents attacked a 1st Infantry Division patrol Sunday in Baiji, home of Iraq's largest oil refinery, said Capt. Bill Coppernoll. U.S. forces returned fire, surrounded the insurgents in a building and fired Hellfire missiles from helicopters.The Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera reported Sunday that two female relatives of Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi have been released by kidnappers. A group called Ansar al-Jihad claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in a Web site posting last week.CNN's Jane Arraf, Nic Robertson, Cal Perry, Faris Qasira, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
