11 US soldiers killed in Fallujah
11/11/2004 7:51
The US military confirmed on Wednesday that 11 US soldiers and two Iraqis
have been killed so far after the Americans launched a military offensive
against Fallujah.
"Reports from field commanders confirmed that in the
third day of operations, multinational and Iraqi forces had suffered 11
multinational and two Iraqi casualties since fighting began to retake the city,"
said in a US military statement.
In addition, nine Iraqi soldiers were
wounded, according to the statement, without giving figures of the injured US
soldiers.
There was no information on the exact number of insurgents
killed in Fallujah since the US Marines backed by Iraqi forces kicked off the
all-out assault on Fallujah on Monday night.
The latest deaths brought to
over 1,140 the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion
last March.
Fallujah, some 50 km north of Baghdad, lies in the Sunni
Muslim heartland in central Iraq.
The US military and the Iraqi interim
government vowed to retake the key rebel stronghold to pave way for the general
elections slated for January.
Xinhua
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