[TexKat]

In one of the most dramatic clashes of the day, snipers fired on U.S. and Iraqi troops from the minarets of the Khulafah Al Rashid mosque, the military said. Marines said the insurgents waved a white flag at one stage but then opened fire, BBC's embedded correspondent Paul Wood reported. The troops called in four precision airstrikes that destroyed the minarets but left the mosque standing. Pool footage showed U.S. forces battling insurgents in a neighborhood surrounding the mosque. Troops were pinned down by gunfire on a rooftop, forced to hit the deck and lay on their stomachs. ''We're taking fire from the mosque,'' one of the Americans said. Forces returned fire, blasting the mosque a large domed building flanked by two minarets and sending up clouds of debris. ''When they're using a mosque to do command and control for insurgents and kill my fellow Marines and soldiers and airmen that are out here no holds barred, the gloves are off,'' said Marine Staff Sgt. Sam Mortimer.

U.S. and Iraqi forces exchange fire with pockets of resistance in Fallujah; hostage ''slaughterhouses'' found

[Gucho]

Missiles and ammunition left by insurgents in Fallujah are seen in this TV image on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004. Throughout the day, US soldiers, backed by Iraqi forces, hit the militants with artillery and mortars, and warplanes fired on the city's main street and market as well as the insurgent stronghold of Jolan, one of several neighborhoods where troops were skirmishing with militants.