WRAP Troops fighting in Fallujah, tanks, helicopters

(9 Nov 2004)
1. Shaky shot of firefight, shots coming from building (insurgents firing at marines) AUDIO: marines returning fire
2. Tank firing guns
3. Soldiers manning guns (UPSOUND: (English) Reporter talking to soldier)
Reporter: "What's it like?"
US Soldier: "Just a huge adrenalin rush, that's it, I don't know how to, it's fun. It's fun"
4. Cobra attack helicopter firing missile
5. Pan as camera follows course of missile to point of impact, pull out on huge puffs of plumes from building (UPSOUND: (English) US soldiers exclaiming at success of impact)
6. Zoom in on swivelling turret of tank as it starts firing guns
7. Soldier in doorway returning fire
8. Two US Marines soldiers firing behind door of their humvee vehicle (UPSOUND: (English) US soldier saying "I saw some people moving!")
9. US Marines getting into back of vehicle
10. Inside vehicle as they head to Fallujah
11. Tracking shot from vehicle
12. Marines wave to people at side of road
13. Marines getting out of vehicle, then running along fence towards apartment building - AUDIO of firing
14. Marine in position aiming at apartment block UPSOUND: (English) "This is us - fire in the hole."
15. Helicopter flies past
16. Marines in position
17. Gun
18. Group of Marines moving forward
19. Marines along fence - pointing weapons at apartment block
20. Marine in position aiming at apartment block - UPSOUND: (English) "One of them has got a large bag."
21. Firing at apartment block as dog wanders past
22. Group of Iraqi woman and children talking to Marines - AUDIO of firing
23. Marines run around side of building
24. Marines enter building corridor, and up stairs
25. They break open a blue door and go into each room , shouting "It's clear" as they move through
STORYLINE:
Dramatic footage was released on Monday of the US offensive on the Iraqi town of Fallujah where US and Iraqi forces launched a long-awaited offensive aimed at putting an end to guerrilla control of the Sunni Muslim city.
Earlier on Monday, they seized two bridges over the Euphrates River and the hospital on Fallujah's western edge that they said was under insurgents' control.
Another team of Marines also entered northwestern Fallujah and seized an apartment building.
After nightfall, thousands of US troops, backed by armour and a massive air barrage, attacked the toughest strongholds of Sunni insurgents in the Iraqi town of Fallujah, launching a long-awaited major offensive aimed at putting an end to guerrilla control of the Sunni Muslim city.
Artillery, tanks and warplanes pounded the district's northern edge, attempting to weaken the defences and set off any bombs and booby-traps before troops moved in.
At the same time, another force pushed into the northeastern Askari district, the first large-scale assault into the insurgent-held area of the city, the military said.
Some 5,000 US Marines and soldiers were massed in the desert on Fallujah's northern edge participating in the assault.
A military spokesman estimated that 42 insurgents were killed across Fallujah in bombardments and skirmishes during the day.
Before the full-frontal attack against the city's northern defences, the US military reported its first casualties of the offensive: two Marines killed when their bulldozer fell into the Euphrates River.

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