The Consultative Council of Mujahideen of Fallujah has issued a communiqué concerning the nature and results of the fighting that took place between the occupation and the Mujahideen in the city between 6 November 2004 and 2 January 2005. .... The withdrawal of the Mujahideen from parts of the city ... was part of a governing military plan that aimed at drawing occupation troops into narrow alleys and streets in the city, where tanks and armored vehicles could be surrounded. The aim was to avert heavy US aerial bombing of Fallujah. Such bombing had made it impossible for Mujahideen to remain on open ground on the edges of the city. On the other hand, it was also easier to attack US tanks and armored vehicles when they were inside the city, where it was also possible for Iraqi sharp shooters to pick off US troops. .... No Mujahideen had retreated or had run from battle. Rather, the Mujahideen adopted a kind of hit and run tactic wherein the "run" was designed to draw US troops after the fighters, where they could be "hit".The communiqué gave a final count of occupation forces' losses up to 2 January 2005 as follows:
• More than 6,500 US troops killed and 700 more wounded
• More than 425 British troops killed and about 325 wounded
• A large number of Americans and Britons captured, some of whom were killed during escape attempts
• More than 1,350 tanks and armored vehicles destroyed
• About 800 Humvees and personnel carriers destroyed
• 41 aircraft, including three fighter planes, shot down
• 200 US light and medium weapons seized, as well as hundreds of scopes, bayonets, compasses, bullet-proof vests, and classified maps of occupation positions in al-Anbar Province.
As to Mujahideen losses, the communiqué stated that 721 Resistance fighters had been killed, including fraternal Arab fighters from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, and the Sudan. In addition, 215 others had been wounded, but most of them were now in good health and were once again carrying arms. .....