IRAQI MINISTER SAYS 1,000 FALLUJA REBELS KILLED
Reuters ^ | 11/13/04
 

BAGHDAD, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed more than 1,000 insurgents in the battle to retake the Sunni Muslim city of Falluja, an Iraqi minister said on Saturday.

"More than 1,000 Saddamists and terrorists have been killed. Around 200 have been arrested," said Kasim Daoud, minister of state for national security, told a news conference.

"The operations are almost over. There are only pockets of resistance left in the city."

Insurgents do not disclose their losses and there was no independent confirmation of the figures Daoud provided.

U.S. Marine Lieutenant General John Sattler said on Friday his forces occupied about 80 percent of Falluja, but that even within that area there was still "clearing up" to do.

The military says 22 U.S. and five Iraqi troops have been killed and 170 U.S. soldiers wounded in the five-day Falluja offensive.