Fallujah 'like hell' as US blazes in

The skies over Fallujah lit up from the flashes of air and artillery barrages as US troops launched an offensive to seize key insurgent strongholds in a city that became the major sanctuary for Islamic extremists who fought Marines to a standstill last April.

Heavy firing continued into the pre-dawn hours today, and residents reached by satellite telephone reported the constant drone of warplanes overhead.