The white flag may be an international symbol of surrender, but in Fallujah it has become another tool of guerrilla war.

US marines on a foot patrol this weekend paid little attention to a man walking along the road and holding a white flag - a common sight as the conflict dies down and civilians pop up to scavenge for food and water.

But this time, US officers say, as the marines came by, the man dipped into an alley, returned with an AK-47 assault rifle, and sprayed the marines with bullets. Two Americans died, and others were wounded.

In a separate incident, marines were lured into an well-coordinated ambush by men with white flags who appeared to signal that they needed help. When marines got close, gunmen began firing from buildings high above.

The attacks expose the new risks in Fallujah as US forces begin shifting in coming days from combat search-and-destroy missions against insurgents, to fighting an enemy that can easily blend into an increasing number of civilians.

"I've been telling my marines: We are entering the most dangerous period now - even more dangerous than the breach [into Fallujah] itself," says Capt. Jer Garcia, commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 3rd Marines. "It's too easy to think, 'We're not getting shot at all the time,' and take off flak jackets and [helmets]. Then, 'Wham!' "

So far, the gates of the city have yet to reopen to those who fled before the US assault. Even now, civilians are only permitted onto the streets from 8 a.m. to noon, and then only to collect food and water at distribution points or to take part in a nascent jobs program.

Some 300 men visited the Hadra Mohamadiya Mosque Sunday to get supplies - the largest number in a week. During the 20-hour-a-day curfew - an effort to prevent insurgents from coordinating with each other to mount attacks - anyone on the street is arrested.

Now US forces are viewing white flags with far more suspicion. "We're going to see these bogus surrender tactics. We're going to see more IEDs (improvised explosive devices). We've found many suicide vests, but I'm sure we have not found them all," says Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, commander of the 1-3 Marines, who control northeast Fallujah.

"They want a spectacular media event - they want a high number of civilian Iraqi or US military deaths," says Lt. Col. Ramos. "We're trying to deny them that opportunity."

The presence of civilians will "absolutely" change tactics, Ramos says. "There is a sense of urgency now to do as much as possible, and to do this right."

Indeed the hope is that progress in rebuilding Fallujah will lessen support for insurgents and help boost the standing of the interim Iraqi government, which announced Sunday that national elections would be held Jan. 30, 2005. The US has committed about $90 million to rebuilding Fallujah, and the interim Iraqi government has pledged $50 million toward the effort, according to military officials.

But over the weekend, insurgents in Baghdad and elsewhere in the Sunni Triangle stepped up bloody attacks. To the north, in Mosul, where the city was tense after a spike in violence a week ago, nine Iraqi soldiers were shot execution-style on Saturday. Sunday, US forces found two more bodies, one of an Iraqi soldier.

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