‘May they go to hell’

THOUSANDS of American troops, backed by armour and a heavy air barrage, punched their way into Fallujah last night, kicking off a massive assault dubbed Operation Phantom Fury that seeks to put an end to six months of insurgent control of the Iraqi city.

After nightfall, American troops advanced slowly on the north-western Jolan neighbourhood, a warren of alleyways where Sunni militant fighters have dug in.

They faced old-fashioned, hand-to-hand, street fighting not seen in its intensity since the Vietnam war of the 1960s and early 70s.