Iraqis who fled last month's US-led offensive on Fallujah began trickling back today to check if homes they left behind were still standing - but others turned back as fighting continued to rage.
Three US Marines were killed in action in Anbar province, which includes Fallujah, the military said, five weeks after saying it had completed an assault to crush rebel strongholds.
More than 200,000 people sought shelter in nearby villages ahead of the November 8th assault and have been living in camps or nearby villages, many with only the clothes on their backs.
Fallujah, which had a population of between 250,000 and 300,000 before last month's attack, has been a virtual ghost town since.
Iraq's interim government said 2,000 people would be allowed back to homes in the western Andalus district from today, although US forces are still battling pockets of insurgents.
The US military said 921 people had returned on the first day, the vast majority of them men. Sixteen were turned back.
Marines have continued to bombard the city since the official end of the assault to expel foreign Islamist fighters and Saddam Hussein loyalists they said were entrenched there.
As refugees prepared to return, US Marines clashed with fighters in northern Fallujah, clearing the building they were hiding in and calling in an air strike to destroy it, a military spokesman said.
Some refugees who had planned to return turned back on hearing blasts and seeing columns of smoke rising from the city. Iraq's minister of state for national security said yesterday rebels who fled the city ahead of the assault were trying to slip back and attack, but were being confronted.
Iraq's interim government said today families would eventually be paid $2,000 compensation for partial damage to their homes, $4,000 for substantial damage and $10,000 if their homes were completely destroyed in the assault.
Shopkeepers would receive $1,500-$3,000 based on the size of their shop and what they sell, it said in a statement.
Those returning to the city have been warned they will find it without power or water. Many buildings have been reduced to rubble and communication lines are down.
The government also plans to give each family $100, a heater and fuel rations on its return, just to meet immediate needs.
US Marines said they were fingerprinting, photographing and scanning the irises of "suspicious military-age men" returning to Fallujah, to ensure fighters did not slip back in. They were also checking identification and ration cards to ensure only those from the Andalus district got back.