Fallujah – At the instance of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi the US troops came to their rescue to give a befitting reply to the shelling across Fallujah by the insurgency.

According to the reports pouring from different areas, the US troops with Iraqi soldiers surged into the heart of Fallujah in a hail of explosions and gunfire on the second day of the largest operation in Iraq since last year's US-led war.

"They are less than one kilometre (half a mile) from the centre," a high-ranking US military officer told AFP. The report added:

"Thousands of US and Iraqi troops poured in after Prime Minister Iyad Allawi authorised an all-out offensive to retake the Sunni Muslim city from rebels and restore order ahead of elections promised by January."

"Shelling across Fallujah, a symbol of the insurgency that attacks the US-backed government on a daily basis, escalated as US troops advanced on the center, fending off mortar and anti-aircraft fire."

Sunni and Shiite figures have, however, condemned the assault and dubbed as 'Operation Phantom Fury', with one Sunni political party threatening to quit the government unless it was halted.