FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - U.S. forces on Friday regained control of a southern city seized this week by a rebellious Shiite militia, the military said, while a brief halt in the U.S. assault on Fallujah fell apart as the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad was marked by more violence.

U.S. troops fanned out across Kut, southeast of the capital, after meeting little resistance, witnesses said, in a major foray by the American military into the south, where U.S. allies have struggled to deal with the uprising by the al-Mahdi Army, led by a radical Shiite cleric.

U.S. Marines with the 2nd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment fire mortar shells in the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq, Friday, April 9, 2004. U.S. Marines have been fighting insurgents in several neighborhoods in the western Iraqi city of Fallujah in order to regain control of the city. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)