My sense from the news reports has been that our forces have been herding insurgents into the city, which has been surrounded for some time to ensure that they can't escape. So, there's a possibility that they've been pinned down in there.
It'll be too much of a success at first! You'd think they would start to notice these patterns -- poor victimes of their own success that they are.
"Victimes" is an acceptable alternate spelling, in my opinion. It gives my message a Chaucerian flavor it would otherwise lack.