FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 18 US soldiershave been killed in the rebel-held Iraqi city of Fallujah by Thursday, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported.

    There were also 68 US soldiers wounded in the US-led full-scalemilitary assault starting from Monday on the Sunni stronghold city,some 50 km west of Baghdad, according to the report.

    The US military confirmed on Wednesday that 11 US soldiers andtwo Iraqis have been killed so far after the Americans launched amilitary offensive against Fallujah.

    "Reports from field commanders confirmed that in the third dayof operations, multinational and Iraqi forces had suffered 11multinational and two Iraqi casualties since fighting began toretake the city," said a US military statement.

    In addition, nine Iraqi soldiers were wounded, according to thestatement, without giving figures of the injured US soldiers.

    The latest deaths brought to some 1,147 the number of USsoldiers killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion last March.

    Fallujah lies in the Sunni Muslim heartland in central Iraq. TheUS military and the Iraqi interim government vowed to retake thekey rebel stronghold to pave way for the general elections slatedfor January. Enditem