The U.S. military says Marines have cleared more than half the houses in the Iraqi city of Fallujah of weapons, after mounting an offensive to crush the city's rebels.
Military officials say the Marines will search every house in Fallujah to deprive Iraq's guerrillas of a main base and weapons point and pave the way for rebuilding the city ahead of elections scheduled in January.
A Marine spokesman says two Marines were killed during the clearing operations when insurgents threw grenades at them as they entered a house Thursday. He says three insurgents were killed in return fire.
Some information for this story provided by Reuters and AFP.
