FALLUJAH, IRAQ - At least 600 Iraqis have died in this city since the U.S. Marines set out to pacify it a week ago, a hospital official said Sunday.
The number is the total casualties recorded by four clinics and the Fallujah General Hospital, said Rafie al-Issawi, the hospital's director.
Other people may have been killed and buried without officials knowing, he said.
Iraqi casualties are being buried in soccer fields, where mourners cry "martyr, martyr" as they're interred.
Most of the dead Iraqis were not fighters, al-Issawi told The Associated Press.
But Marine Lt.-Col. Brennan Byrne said most of the Iraqi dead were males of military age killed in fighting which has raged through the city.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the Marines are very precise in picking targets and insurgents are hiding among civilians.
U.S. Helicopter Downed
Five marines have killed in the fighting in Fallujah, and earlier Sunday, a U.S. Army Apache helicopter was brought down by ground fire near Baghdad, killing the aircraft's two crew members.
The helicopter went down five kilometres west of Baghdad airport, Kimmitt told a news conference.
The attack came after Iraqi fighters agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire in Fallujah.
Despite the truce, sporadic sniper fire continued Sunday in the battle for control of the Sunni militia stronghold. Two marines were wounded.
The ceasefire was part of negotiations between city officials and Iraq's Governing Council, which was seeking the surrender of the militants responsible for the death and mutilation of four American civilians on March 31.
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