Armored Vehicle Lost In Fallujah For Five Hours

An armored vehicle carrying 20 Marines was headed for a frontline position Tuesday in Fallujah when it got lost and ended up nearly half a mile inside the city.

It was surrounded by more than 100 armed guerrillas.

One Marine described it as stumbling into the wasp nest.

The Marines took shelter in a nearby building and waited five hours for a rescue convoy, which found them by following the plume of black smoke from their burned-out vehicle.

Cease-Fire In Trouble?

A U.S. Marine commander says an already shaky truce in the Iraqi city of Fallujah could end up crumbling.

The truce was called earlier this week to let the Iraqis negotiate an end to the deadly insurgence in the besieged city. Marine Cmdr. James Mattis says his troops are maintaining the cease-fire but that the enemy isn't.

In response, U.S. attack aircraft have fired on gunmen and buildings in the largely Sunni city. Helicopters fired on gunmen gathered on the northern edge of the city. Insurgents fired back with rocket-propelled grenades, but they apparently missed their targets.

Other attackers repeatedly went after a house that the Marines were using. At least a dozen gunmen were reported killed in two nights of attacks.

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Many residents have fled neighborhoods around the Marine positions. The troops have taken over abandoned houses, using sledgehammers to bash through walls so they can move between houses without exposing themselves.

The Marines also battled with insurgents this week in a nearby village. Dozens of Iraqi gunmen were reportedly killed. The fighting was so intense that officers say wounded Marines were called out to fight -- bandages and all.

Several Marines have been killed in the fighting this week.

Some said they're frustrated by the cease-fire. One Marine commander said the insurgents are taking advantage of the truce.

Four Marine Deaths

Meanwhile, four more deaths of Marines were being reported by the U.S. military.

A statement said they died in fighting in the western Anbar province, which includes Fallujah.

According to the statement, two Marines died Tuesday as a result of enemy action, while the other two were killed a day earlier. There were no additional details.

Attacks On Other Forces

There were also attacks on coalition forces elsewhere in Iraq.

Peacekeepers with a Polish-led force came under fire in three separate incidents in the cities of Najaf and Karbala.

No injuries were reported.

A Spanish base in Najaf came under mortar fire. A Bulgarian base in Karbala also came under mortar fire. And a Bulgarian patrol in the city was shot at.

Poland commands 9,500 international peacekeepers in south-central Iraq, including about 2,400 of its own troops.

U.S. troops have been gathering around the holy Shiite city of Najaf, where fugitive radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is holed up.

An aide to al-Sadr has been released by U.S. forces, who detained him for several hours.

Hazem al-Aaraji said he got an apology and a ride back to his hotel.

He said U.S. forces detained him during a meeting of tribal leaders at Baghdad's Sheraton Hotel, took him to Baghdad International Airport and then released him about five hours later.

A U.S. commander said troops questioned the man and decided he wasn't an "imminent threat to security." The cleric denied he was questioned and condemned what he called an inhuman act.

Tribal leaders were outraged with the detention, with one saying it could trigger fighting in Baghdad just like the fighting seen in Fallujah.

Also in the region, members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps repelled attackers who fired on a water plant.