Editing Second Battle of Fallujah (section)

===Civilian presence===
Most of Fallujah's civilian population fled the city before the battle, which greatly reduced the potential for noncombatant casualties.<ref name=Bellavia2008/> U.S. military officials estimated that 70–90% of the 300,000 civilians in the city fled before the attack, leaving 30,000 to 90,000 civilians still in the city.<ref name=nytimes20041108/> The military used leaflets and broadcasts to encourage civilians to leave the city before the assault.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Estes |first1=Kenneth W. |title=Into the Fray |date=2011 |publisher=United States Marine Corps History Division |location=Washington, D.C. |page=60}}</ref> However, multiple news agencies reported that military-aged males were prevented from leaving or entering the city by the U.S. military.<ref name="UStroopsbanmen">{{cite news |last=AFP |date=8 November 2004 |title=US troops ban men from entering, leaving Fallujah |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-11-08/us-troops-ban-men-from-entering-leaving-fallujah/581886 |work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=18 December 2022}}</ref> Additionally, not all civilians had the means to leave Fallujah before the battle. [[Jane Arraf]], who was embedded with U.S. troops, said that some families wrote "We are family" on the doors of their homes, hoping the Marines would not attack during the battle.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gott |first1=Kendall D. |title=Eyewitness to War |date=2007 |publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press |location=Fort Leavenworth, Kansas |isbn=9780160773129 |page=309}}</ref>