Tanks and artillery pounded insurgent positions after a US position came under sporadic fire, a spokesman said.

"Fire observed coming from one target area is believed to be related to a hit on a significant weapons cache," he said.

Medics said 10 wounded people had been brought to Fallujah's main hospital from the northeastern neighbourhoods of Al-Ashkari and Abu Bakr.

Seven of them were children, they added.

Overnight, five bodies and 32 wounded, including women and children, were brought to the hospital after overnight bombing in Al-Askari and around the western perimeter of the city, medics said.

Fallujah, where US marines come under almost daily attack, has proved one of the biggest headaches for the US military since last year's invasion, and air strikes are regularly carried out against the city.

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