US Death Toll Rises in Fallujah
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U.S. Death Toll Rises in Fallujah
Reuters and Agence France-Presse

Monday 15 November 2004

The US military says 38 US soldiers have died in the week-long offensive to recapture the Iraqi city of Fallujah from rebels and 275 had been wounded.

The toll includes three non-combat deaths.

In a statement, the military said 60 of the wounded had already returned to duty.

More than 10,000 US and 2,000 Iraqi soldiers took part in the assault to take the city ahead of elections due in January.

The US military says about 1,000 insurgents have been killed and 450 to 550 captured.

There is no word on civilian casualties, but residents say many people have died.

A hospital spokeswoman says 419 US soldiers wounded in Iraq have been treated at a US military hospital in Germany.

She says more than 220 of the soldiers were wounded in combat, either by bullets or burns and most had been involved in the major assault on the rebel city of Fallujah.

Just under 200 of the wounded have already been sent on to the United States for further treatment, she said.

The Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in south-west Germany is the largest US military medical facility outside the United States.