Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, on Monday said US coalition forces would stay the course in Falluja until they had wrestled control of the city from the insurgents.

Mr Rumsfeld was commenting as US and Iraqi troops started the long-awaited assault on Falluja. Following an aerial bombing campaign that started on Sunday evening, coalition forces on Monday secured objectives on the outskirts of the city before dawn and then pushed into insurgent-held neighbourhoods.