American forces overran the last center of rebel resistance in Falluja on Sunday after a weeklong invasion that smashed what they called the principal base for the Iraqi insurgency.

But much of the city lay in smoking ruins, isolated bands of rebels still harassed American and Iraqi troops and the military victory appeared to be nearly overshadowed by violence elsewhere, particularly in the northern city of Mosul.

The governor of Mosul's province, saying he had lost faith in local security forces, called in thousands of Kurdish militiamen for the first time to help quell the insurgent uprising there. The American commander in the area, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, called the situation "tense, but certainly not desperate," and said that the next few days would bring more hard fighting.

Posted by: Jonathan Singer / 8:46 PM | Basie! Home