Fallujah during the Iraq War The United States occupation of Fallujah began in April 2003 , one month following the beginning of the invasion of Iraq . In April 2003 United States forces fired on a group of unarmed demonstrators who protested against the invasion and occupation of their country . US forces alleged they were fired at first , but human rights groups who visited the site of the protests concluded that physical evidence did not corroborate their allegations and confirmed the residents ' accusations that the US forces fired indiscriminately on Iraqis with no provocation . 17 people were killed and 70 were wounded . In a later incident , US soldiers fired on Falluhaji protesters again ; Fallujah ' s mayor , Taha Bedaiwi al - Alwani , said that two people were killed and 14 wounded . Iraqi resistance fighters were able to claim the city a year later , before they were ousted by a siege and two re - invasions by US forces . These events caused widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis in the city and surrounding areas . As of 2004 , the city is largely ruined , with 60 % of buildings damaged or destroyed , and the population at 30 % – 50 % of pre - war levels . 2003 invasion of Iraq . Although the majority of the residents were Sunni and had supported Saddam Hussein ' s rule , Fallujah lacked military presence just after his fall . There was little looting and the new mayor of the city — Taha Bidaywi Hamed , was selected by local tribal leaders — was pro - United States . When the U . S . Army ' s 1st Battalion / 2nd Brigade 82nd Airborne entered the town on April 23 , 2003 , they positioned themselves at the vacated Ba ' ath Party headquarters , a local school house , and the Ba ' ath party resort just outside town ( Dreamland ) — the US bases inside the town erased some goodwill , especially when many in the city had been hoping the US Army would stay outside of the relatively calm city . Instability , April 2003 – March 2004 . On the evening of April 28 , 2003 , several hundred residents defied the US curfew and marched down the streets of Fallujah , past the soldiers positioned in the Ba ' ath party ( which did not exist any more at that point ) headquarters , to protest the military presence inside the local school . The protest remained peaceful but US soldiers fired upon the crowd , killing as many as 17 and wounding more than 70 of the protesters . US soldiers alleged that they were returning fire , but protesters stated they were unarmed . Independent observers from human rights group found no evidence that US forces had come under attack . The US suffered no casualties from the incident . Two days later , on April 30 , the 82d Airborne was replaced in the city by 2nd Troop ( Fox ) / U . S . 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment . The 3d Cavalry was significantly smaller in number and chose not to occupy the same schoolhouse where the shooting had occurred two days earlier . However , on the same day a daytime protest in front of the Ba ' ath party headquarters and mayor ' s office ( which are adjacent to one another ) led to the death of three more unarmed protesters . At this point in time the 3d Cavalry was in control of the entire Al Anbar province , and it quickly became evident that a larger force was needed . The now battalion - sized element of the 3d Cavalry ( 2nd squadron ) in Fallujah was replaced by the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division . During the summer , the US army decided to close down its last remaining base inside the city ( the Ba ' ath party headquarters ; FOB Laurie ) . At this point the 3d ACR had all of its forces stationed outside Fallujah in the former Baathist resort , Dreamland . After the May 11 surrender of the Mujahedin - e - Khalq , the incoming 3d Infantry Division also began using the large MEK compound adjacent to Dreamland to accommodate its larger troop presence in Fallujah . Under its control , the 3d Infantry Division maintained no bases inside the city of Fallujah . On 30 June a " huge explosion " occurred in a mosque in which the imam , Sheikh Laith Khalil , and eight other people were killed . Residents of the city claim the army fired a missile at the mosque while the army displayed evidence that a terrorist bomb training class had gone wrong . Just a couple of days earlier things had been much quieter , although US troops had been confiscating motorbikes as a preventive measure against terrorist attacks . Just 2 months after the 3rd Infantry had taken control of Fallujah from the 3rd Cavalry , the entire 3rd Infantry Division was redeployed home . The 3d Cavalry was once again put in control of Fallujah , and again was only able to devote one squadron to Fallujah . Attached to that Squadron was the 115th MP Company from Rhode Island . Unarmored and ill - equipped the 115th MPs kept order with routine patrols and frequent house raids searching for insurgents and weapons caches . In September 2003 , the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne was deployed to replace the 3d Cavalry in Ramadi and Fallujah . The 3rd Cavalry was then left to control all of the al - Anbar province except for these two cities . Approximately one year after the invasion , the city ' s Iraqi police and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps were unable to establish law and order . Insurgents launched many indiscriminate attacks and some on police stations in the city , killing at least 20 police officers . Beginning in early March 2004 , the Army ' s 82nd Airborne Division commanded by Major - General Charles H . Swannack Jr . gave a transfer of authority of the al - Anbar province to the I Marine Expeditionary Force commanded by Lt . General Conway . The 3rd Cavalry and the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne were then sent home . Attack on contractors . On March 31 , 2004 - Iraqi insurgents from the Brigades of Martyr Ahmed Yassin in Fallujah ambushed a convoy containing four American private military contractor s employed by Blackwater USA , who were at the time guarding a convoy carrying kitchen supplies to a military base , for the catering company Eurest Support Services The four contractors , Scott Helvenston , Jerko Zovko , Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague , were dragged from their cars , beaten , and set ablaze . Their burned corpses were then dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates . Siege , April 2004 . In response to the killing of the four US citizens , and intense political pressure , the US Marines commenced Operation Vigilant Resolve . They surrounded the city and attempted to capture the individuals responsible as well as others in the region who might have been involved in insurgencies . One out of every two mosques in Fallujah were used to hide fighters or weapons . The Iraqi National Guard was supposed to work alongside with the US Marines in the operation , but on the dawn of the invasion they discarded their uniforms and deserted . Under pressure from the Iraqi Governing Council , the US aborted its attempt to regain control of Fallujah . The US Marines suffered 40 deaths in the siege . Estimates of the number of Iraqi deaths ( both fighters and civilians ) in the attack range from 271 ( according to Iraqi Ministry of Health officials ) to 731 ( according to Rafie al - Issawi , the head of the local hospital ) . The occupying force on April 9 allowed more than 70 , 000 women , children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city . On April 10 , the US military declared a unilateral truce to allow for humanitarian supplies to enter Fallujah . US troops pulled back to the outskirts of the city . An Iraqi mediation team entered the city in an attempt to set up negotiations between US forces and local leaders , but as of April 12 had not been successful . At least one US battalion had orders to shoot any male of military age on the streets after dark , armed or not . Some press reports contained anecdotal accounts from Iraqi residents of US sniper s allegedly firing on unarmed civilians . In violation of the Geneva Convention , the city ' s main hospital was closed by Marines , negating its use , and a US sniper was placed on top of the hospital ' s water tower . There were also reports of the use of cluster bomb s by US forces in Fallujah during this time , including reports from Al Jazeera on April 9 and 15 , which US State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher later described as " totally false . " Similar reports came from several other sources who reported on 26 April 2004 : " A spokesman for an Iraqi delegation from the violence - gripped city of Fallujah on Monday accused U . S . troops of using cluster bombs against the city and said they had asked the United Nations to mediate the conflict . Mohammed Tareq , a spokesman for the governing council of Fallujah and a member of the four - person delegation , said U . S . military snipers were also responsible for the deaths of many children , women and elderly people . " And the Economic Press Review reported on 17 April 2004 : " American F - 16 warplane s are blitzing the Al - Julan residential area in Al Fallujah 50 kilometers west from Baghdad with cluster bombs . " The ceasefire followed a wave of insurgency activity across southern Iraq , which included the capture of two US soldiers , seven employees of US military contractor Kellogg , Brown and Root , and more than 50 other workers in Iraq . Several of the prisoners were released within days of their capture , while the majority were executed . The US forces ostensibly sought to negotiate a settlement but promised to restart its offensive to retake the city if one was not reached . Military commanders said their goal in the siege was to capture those responsible for the numerous deaths of US and Iraqi security personnel . As the siege continued , insurgents conducted hit - and - run attacks on US Marine positions . The Marines had announced a unilateral ceasefire . Truce , May 2004 . At the beginning of May 2004 , the US Marine Corps announced a ceasefire due to intense political pressure . Most of the fighting was limited to the southern industrial district , which , had the lowest population density inside the city limits and the northwest corner of the city in the Jolan district . There were also Marine battalions in the northeast and southern portion of the city . While both sides began preparations to resume offensives , General Conway took a risk and handed control of the city to a former Iraqi general with roughly 1 , 000 men who then formed the Fallujah Brigade , while acknowledging that many of the people under control of the general were probably insurgents themselves ( no verification was provided ) . The general , Major General Muhammed Latif , replaced a US choice , Jasim Mohammed Saleh , who was alleged to have been involved in the earlier atrocities against Kurds during the Iran - Iraq war . The ceasefire terms were to give control of Fallujah to General Latif on condition that Fallujah becomes a secure region for coalition forces and halt incoming mortar and rocket attacks on the nearby US bases . Latif ' s militia wore Iraqi military uniforms from the Hussein era . Another tenet of the cease - fire was the establishment of a Traffic Control Point ( TCP ) on the eastern side of the city just west of the " cloverleaf " . This TCP was constantly manned by a platoon of Marines and a platoon from the Iraqi National Guard and saw almost daily firefights for the rest of the summer . Inside the city , mosques proclaimed the victory of the insurgents over the United States . Celebratory banners appeared around the city , and the fighters paraded through the town on trucks . Iraqi governing council member Ahmed Chalabi , after a bombing that killed fellow IGC member Izzadine Saleem , blamed the US military ' s decisions in Fallujah for the attack , stating " The garage is open and car bomb s are coming repeatedly . " Fallujah , according to reporters who have visited in mid - summer , had since become a sort of Islamist mini - state , with Sharia law enforced by mujahedin . Owners of shops that sold US - style magazine and barbers who offered " Western - style " haircuts were beaten and publicly humiliated . Inter - faction fighting was also rampant . The Fallujah Brigade was soon marginalized and ceased to be more than another faction in what had effectively become a no - go area for coalition troops . Counter - insurgency , May – November 2004 . Throughout the summer and fall of 2004 , the U . S . military conducted sporadic airstrikes on Fallujah . U . S . forces reported that all were confirmed targeted , intelligence - based strikes against houses used by the group of Abu Musab al - Zarqawi , an insurgency leader linked to al - Qaida . In October and early November , 2004 , the U . S . military prepared for a major offensive against the rebel stronghold with stepped up daily aerial attacks using precision - guided munition s against militant " safe houses , " restaurants and meeting places in the city . U . S . Marines also engaged in firefights on a daily and nightly basis along the perimeter of the city . There were again conflicting reports of civilian casualties . CNN incorrectly reported on October 14 , 2004 , that the US offensive assault on Fallujah had begun and broadcast a report from a young Marine outside Fallujah , 1st Lt . Lyle Gilbert , who announced that " troops have crossed the line of departure . " Hours later , CNN reported their Pentagon reporters had determined that the assault had not , in fact , begun . The Los Angeles Times reported on December 1 , 2004 , that , according to several unnamed Pentagon officials , the Marine ' s announcement was a feint — part of an elaborate " psychological operation " ( PSYOP ) to determine the Fallujah rebels ' reactions if they believed attack was imminent . On November 7 , 2004 , the U . S . - appointed Iraq interim government declared a 60 day state of emergency in preparation for the assault , as insurgents carried out several car bomb attacks in the Fallujah area which killed Iraqi army and police , U . S . Marines and Iraqi civilians . The next day Prime Minister Iyad Allawi publicly authorized an offensive in Fallujah and Ramadi to " liberate the people " and " clean Fallujah from the terrorist s " . Marines , U . S . Army soldiers and allied Iraqi soldiers stormed into Fallujah ' s western outskirts , secured two bridges across the Euphrates , seized a hospital on the outskirts of the city and arrested about 50 men in the hospital . About half the arrested men were later released . A hospital doctor reported that 15 Iraqis were killed and 20 wounded during the overnight incursions . The US armed forces have designated the offensive as Operation Phantom Fury . In the first week of Operation Phantom Fury , government spokesman Thair al - Naqeeb said that many of the remaining fighters have asked to surrender and that Iraqi authorities " will extend amnesty " to those who have not committed major crimes . At the same time , US forces prevented male refugees from leaving the combat zone , and the city was placed under a strict night - time shoot - to - kill curfew with anyone spotted in the Marines ' night vision sights shot . U . S . – Iraqi offensive of November 7 , 2004 . Journalists embedded with U . S . military units , although limited in what they may report , have reported the following : On 17 May 2011 , AFP reported that 21 bodies , in black body - bag s marked with letters and numbers in Roman script had been recovered from a mass grave in al - Maadhidi cemetery in the centre of the city . Fallujah police chief Brigadier General Mahmud al - Essawi said that they had been blindfolded , their legs had been tied and they had suffered gunshot wounds . The Mayor , Adnan Husseini said that the manner of their killing , as well as the body bags , indicated that US forces had been responsible . Both al - Essawi and Husseini agreed that the dead had been killed in 2004 . The US Military declined to comment . Aftermath . Residents were allowed to return to the city in mid - December after undergoing biometric identification , provided they carry their ID card s all the time . US officials report that " more than half of Fallujah ' s 39 , 000 homes were damaged , and about 10 , 000 of those were destroyed . " Compensation amounts to 20 percent of the value of damaged houses , with an estimated 32 , 000 homeowners eligible , according to Marine Lt . Col . William Brown . According to the " NBC " , 9 , 000 homes were destroyed , thousands more were damaged and of the 32 , 000 compensation claims only 2 , 500 had been paid as of April 14 , 2005 . According to Mike Marqusee of " Iraq Occupation Focus " writing in " The Guardian " , " Falluja ' s compensation commissioner has reported that 36 , 000 of the city ' s 50 , 000 homes were destroyed , along with 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines " . Reconstruction is only progressing slowly and mainly consists of clearing rubble from heavily - damaged areas and reestablishing basic utility services . This is also due to the fact that only 10 % of the pre - offensive inhabitants had returned as of mid - January , and only 30 % as of the end of March 2005 . Health effects . Research by Chris Busby , Malak Hamdan and Entesar Ariabi published in 2010 lent credibility to anecdotal news reports of increases in birth defects and cancer after the fighting in 2004 . Results from a survey of 711 households in Fallujah on cancer , birth defects and infant mortality suggested that large increases in cancer and infant mortality had occurred . Responses to the questionnaire also suggested an anomalous mean birth sex ratio in children born a year after the fighting , indicating that environmental contamination occurred in 2004 . Although the authors noted the use of depleted uranium as one possible source of relevant exposure , they emphasized that there could be other possibilities and that their results did not identify the agent ( s ) responsible for the increased levels of illness .