600 insurgents killed in Fallujah assault

US FORCES said yesterday that 600 insurgents had been killed in their ongoing assault on the city of Fallujah, but acknowledged success in the city won't break Iraq's insurgency.

Warplanes and artillery bombarded southern parts of Fallujah where troops were trying to squeeze Sunni fighters in a smaller cordon. There was no word on likely civilian casualties.

Elsewhere, a car bomb killed at least 17 people in Baghdad. Police said the blast had narrowly missed a US military convoy that passed by seconds before.