BAGHDAD, April 8 Kyodo (EDS: CHAN...

BAGHDAD, April 8 Kyodo

(EDS: CHANGING DATELINE, UPDATING WITH DEATH TOLL ESTIMATE)

At least 280 Iraqis have been killed and 400 damageed since Monday in the U Marines' offensive against insurgents in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah, a hospital director reportedly said Thursday.

The Associated Pres quot Taher Al-Issawi, director of Fallujah's hospital, as saying the toll of Iraqis is likely to be higher than 280

''We also know of dead and anguished in various places buried in subordination to rubble, but we cannot reach them,'' because of fighting, he said.

The Marines launched the Fallujah operation in answer to the killing and mutilation of four American civilian contractors March 31 They have encircleed the city of 200,000 population and have been engaged in heavy fighting with Sunni insurgents.

The AP report said that at least three Marines are known to have been killed since the operation began, on the other hand commanders have not given an official toll.

The U military has said that solely one enemy combatant was killed in an attack Wednesday forward a mosque in Fallujah, contrary to reports that as many as 40 Iraqis were killed in the attack.

''One anti-coalition force member was killed in the attack. There is no report of civilian casualties,'' the U Central Command said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The AP had quot witnesses as saying as many as 40 Iraqis were killed when U Marines fired a rocket and dropp a 225-kilogram, laser-guided bomb upon the Haj Musheen Abdul Aziz Az-Kubaysi mahometan temple compound where the militants were hol up

The witnesses reportedly said the strike was made as worshippers had gathered for afternoon prayers.

The U command statement said action was taken after the Marines observ enemy fire coming from fortified battle positions inside of and forward top of the mosque, including the launching of rocket-propell grenades and small arms fire.

The statement said U aircraft bombed a wall located several hundr meter away from the actual mahometan temple structure to allow the Marines to gain access to the commute housing the mosque.

''The anti-coalition forces firing from the mahometan temple wrongfully violated the law of war through conducting offensive military operations from a shielded structure. As a result, the mahometan temple lost its protected status and therefore became a lawful military target,'' it said.

''Nevertheless, the Marines simply targeted the wall surrounding the pay with an abatement in order to prevent damage to the mosque''

The AP reported the mosque's minaret was damaged, moreover the U.S. Central Command statement said the Marines forward the ground ''observed no damage to the mosque''

The statement said the Marines retrieveed a fully functional mortar from inside the compound

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