http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,115281,00.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq ? U.S. troops on Friday fought an intense battle in Fallujah, Iraq, against enemy guerrillas apparently armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
No U.S. casualties had been reported, but doctors at the local hospital said four Iraqis had died and six were wounded. The battle apparently erupted when U.S. Marines moved in for house-to-house searches in the town west of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, oil wells and pipelines were targeted in what Iraqi officials called terrorist acts. A pipeline was set on fire near Basra (search), causing a huge blaze, and in northern Iraq a bomb set off a large fire at an oil well.
The oil-well fire raged for 24 hours before being extinguished, a senior Iraqi security official said.
Witnesses in Fallujah (search) said heavy gunfire and explosions were heard when Marines moved into the center of the city.
American troops rarely venture into downtown Fallujah, where support for Saddam Hussein (search) was strong and rebels often carry out attacks against American forces.
After the battle, Marines patrolled the area on foot. The city was largely deserted with shops shuttered and residents staying indoors. U.S. troops blocked the city's entrance.
Marines took over authority in the area this week from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
The blast on the Northern Oil Company well in the Khabaz area, about 55 miles west of Kirkuk, occurred Wednesday night, said Gen. Mohammed Amin, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (search) chief in Kirkuk. The fire was extinguished late Thursday.
The well was not being tapped at the time of the blast and was not closely guarded, he said.
"This is a terrorist act. This is the first time an oil well has come under attack in Kirkuk," Amin said.
He accused remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime of being behind the attack, but offered no proof. The attack "is a sign that some strategic locations will be attacked. So, we are going to tighten security on places that are considered national resources."
Kirkuk is one of Iraq's main oil producing regions. Rebels have targeted the oil industry in the country's north and south, blowing up pipelines, killing oil workers and firing rockets at the oil ministry building in Baghdad.
A pipeline in the southern Basra oil facilities was also on fire Friday, an official from Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization said. Crude exports from the region were not affected, he said. It was not clear what caused the fire.
Oil is Iraq's most valuable export, and the country must sell more to pay for rebuilding an economy shattered by wars, sanctions and misrule. Confronted with political tensions and terror attacks, Iraq's Governing Council and its American backers recognize that rising oil revenues are essential to the creation of jobs and social stability.
Rebels have also targeted Iraqi police and some 350 U.S.-trained officers have been killed in the past year, the U.S. military said. Attacks are expected to increase before the coalition hands over sovereignty on June 30.
This week, rebels killed two police who were twin brothers, a provincial police chief and nine police recruits, shot dead in an ambush of their vehicle.
Guerrillas view policemen as collaborators with the U.S.-led occupation. Police often make easier targets because they are less well-armed and protected than the U.S. troops who sometimes accompany them on patrols.
Insurgents "know that police are the authority, force and law, and for this reason they carry out these acts," said Nouri Jaber al-Nouri, inspector general of the Interior Ministry.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S. military's deputy director of operations, said the killings were "clearly a program of intimidation and targeting of not only the Iraqi police service, but all Iraqi government officials."
On Thursday, a U.S. soldier died and two others were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded near Baqouba, the American military said. The soldiers went to the area after Iraqi ICDC forces notified them that a homemade bomb had been found. The two injured soldiers were in stable condition.
Nearly 600 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq a year ago, according to the U.S. Defense Department. Of those, about two-thirds have died as a result of hostile action.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense on Friday announced the awarding of a $500 million contract to Pasadena, California-based Parsons Delaware Inc. for the construction and renovation of public buildings, hospitals, health-care clinics, and housing throughout Iraq.
BAGHDAD, Iraq ? U.S. troops on Friday fought an intense battle in Fallujah, Iraq, against enemy guerrillas apparently armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
No U.S. casualties had been reported, but doctors at the local hospital said four Iraqis had died and six were wounded. The battle apparently erupted when U.S. Marines moved in for house-to-house searches in the town west of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, oil wells and pipelines were targeted in what Iraqi officials called terrorist acts. A pipeline was set on fire near Basra (search), causing a huge blaze, and in northern Iraq a bomb set off a large fire at an oil well.
The oil-well fire raged for 24 hours before being extinguished, a senior Iraqi security official said.
Witnesses in Fallujah (search) said heavy gunfire and explosions were heard when Marines moved into the center of the city.
American troops rarely venture into downtown Fallujah, where support for Saddam Hussein (search) was strong and rebels often carry out attacks against American forces.
After the battle, Marines patrolled the area on foot. The city was largely deserted with shops shuttered and residents staying indoors. U.S. troops blocked the city's entrance.
Marines took over authority in the area this week from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
The blast on the Northern Oil Company well in the Khabaz area, about 55 miles west of Kirkuk, occurred Wednesday night, said Gen. Mohammed Amin, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (search) chief in Kirkuk. The fire was extinguished late Thursday.
The well was not being tapped at the time of the blast and was not closely guarded, he said.
"This is a terrorist act. This is the first time an oil well has come under attack in Kirkuk," Amin said.
He accused remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime of being behind the attack, but offered no proof. The attack "is a sign that some strategic locations will be attacked. So, we are going to tighten security on places that are considered national resources."
Kirkuk is one of Iraq's main oil producing regions. Rebels have targeted the oil industry in the country's north and south, blowing up pipelines, killing oil workers and firing rockets at the oil ministry building in Baghdad.
A pipeline in the southern Basra oil facilities was also on fire Friday, an official from Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization said. Crude exports from the region were not affected, he said. It was not clear what caused the fire.
Oil is Iraq's most valuable export, and the country must sell more to pay for rebuilding an economy shattered by wars, sanctions and misrule. Confronted with political tensions and terror attacks, Iraq's Governing Council and its American backers recognize that rising oil revenues are essential to the creation of jobs and social stability.
Rebels have also targeted Iraqi police and some 350 U.S.-trained officers have been killed in the past year, the U.S. military said. Attacks are expected to increase before the coalition hands over sovereignty on June 30.
This week, rebels killed two police who were twin brothers, a provincial police chief and nine police recruits, shot dead in an ambush of their vehicle.
Guerrillas view policemen as collaborators with the U.S.-led occupation. Police often make easier targets because they are less well-armed and protected than the U.S. troops who sometimes accompany them on patrols.
Insurgents "know that police are the authority, force and law, and for this reason they carry out these acts," said Nouri Jaber al-Nouri, inspector general of the Interior Ministry.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S. military's deputy director of operations, said the killings were "clearly a program of intimidation and targeting of not only the Iraqi police service, but all Iraqi government officials."
On Thursday, a U.S. soldier died and two others were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded near Baqouba, the American military said. The soldiers went to the area after Iraqi ICDC forces notified them that a homemade bomb had been found. The two injured soldiers were in stable condition.
Nearly 600 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq a year ago, according to the U.S. Defense Department. Of those, about two-thirds have died as a result of hostile action.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense on Friday announced the awarding of a $500 million contract to Pasadena, California-based Parsons Delaware Inc. for the construction and renovation of public buildings, hospitals, health-care clinics, and housing throughout Iraq.
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