A wounded Iraqi man is treated in the hospital in the town of Falluja, September 19, 2004, after he was injured during clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents. U.S. armoured vehicles killed four Iraqis when they opened fire in Falluja on Sunday, a hospital doctor said. Ali Mohamed of Taleb al-Janabi hospital said the men were killed when U.S. forces, trying to wrestle control of Falluja from rebels, opened fire in the east of the town. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo Mohammed Khodor)

3 dead, 2 injured as US troops opened fire in Falluja, Sept. 19, 2004. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

   BAGHDAD, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- An Iraqi Health Ministry source said altogether 17,193 Iraqis were killed or wounded in the past six months across the violence-ravaged country, Al Nahdhah newspaper reported Sunday.

   A total of 3,511 Iraqis were killed and 13,682 others wounded, the source said.

   The victims included 175 women and 146 children, and the wounded included 617 women and 429 children, the source added.

   He emphasized that the number only included those admitted to hospitals and registered in official records.

   Iraq has been gripped by a nationwide violence which showed no signs of abating since the US-led war to topple former Saddam Hussein's regime began in March 2003.

   Since then, thousands of people have been killed or wounded in the war and the ensuing chaos featured with kidnappings, shootings, bombings, clashes and assassinations. Enditem