U.S. Tries to Spare Civilians in Fallujah

April 27 -- American warplanes and artillery launched a thunderous attack on at least two positions believed to be held by Sunni insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah — part of a new U.S. military plan to target insurgents aggressively without staging an all-out attack on the city.

Most of the violence in Fallujah has been in the northern part of the city, which is where tonight's targets were.

A senior military official told ABCNEWS before the bombing started that the military would "soon" begin a "low-key campaign to reduce the opposition." The official said the plan was for "night operations" using position-guided munitions, AC-130 gunships and snipers. "We'll respond to cease-fire violations at the time and place of our choosing," the official said.

This military plan also involves psychological operations. Just before the bombing began tonight, there were two broadcasts in Arabic — one apparently aimed at spooking the insurgents, the other possibly meant to help civilians.

TV network pool reporter Karl Penhaul, on assignment in Fallujah, provided a translation of the messages he heard for a number of U.S. media outlets. News operations are pooling their resources due to the continuing danger they face on the ground.

"One of the messages earlier was calling on the insurgents to come out and fight and then there was a tape recording of laughing," Penhaul said. "This later tape recording we heard being played … could have been a warning to the civilian population that coalition activity may be imminent."

The bombing began 20 minutes later. There is still no word on how many insurgents may have been killed — or civilians. For the insurgents, civilian casualties may be part of the plan.

"That is the insurgents' explicit tactic," said Christopher Preble, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington. "Try to draw civilians into the process and to try to either prevent the United States from responding or ultimately to drum up support for the insurgents' cause against the United States by having innocents caught in the middle."