First, they said, ferocious resistance to a military raid that began Tuesday had prompted the deadliest fighting in the area in two years, suggesting the presence of a top Qaeda leader.
Perhaps the cause of the final debacle can be found in the ferocious resistance that the incredible computer had been putting up against him.
After the Japanese successfully broke into the Taiyan basin, the Japanese continued to encounter ferocious resistance.
Storms smashed his ships and ferocious resistance from blue-skinned tribes and vicious dogs were almost his undoing.
Although the Anglo-French force defeated Argentine forces, the cost of victory proved excessive in light of the ferocious resistance from the Argentines.
What he did not expect was the ferocious resistance offered by Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov.
The ferocious resistance suggested there were perhaps 1,000 enemy fighters dug into the caves and crevasses.
The Army was short of food and gasoline, but, as Iwo Jima and Okinawa proved, it was capable of ferocious resistance.
Militarily, the battle ended indecisively with the Iraqi security forces clearing some districts but facing ferocious resistance in others.