US forces fought running battles with insurgents in the Iraqi town of Falluja on Friday and a television cameraman and eight civilians, including three children, were killed, a hospital official said.
Issam Mohammed, a doctor at the main Falluja hospital, said 25 were wounded, including children, women and old people.
Journalists covering the clashes said a cameraman working for a foreign news organisation had been shot. Doctors at the hospital said he died from his wounds.
Reuters television footage showed some of the casualties being treated. A boy wounded in the head screamed in pain as doctors bandaged him.
Several explosions, apparently from mortar bombs fired by guerrillas, echoed through the streets, which were deserted apart from ambulances and US military vehicles.
A mosque loudspeaker broadcast the call to Friday prayers, but residents had to stay in their homes.
They said US troops had come under attack when they entered the town's Hay al-Askari neighbourhood. They sealed off the area and conducted house-to-house searches. Soldiers carried out a similar operation in the Hay al-Shuhada district.
US troops turned back reporters trying to reach the town, where explosions and heavy gunfire could be heard from the outskirts.
Falluja, about 60 km (37 miles) west of Baghdad, is known for its fierce hostility to the US-led occupation.
The US military in Baghdad said it had no information about the fighting in the mostly Sunni Muslim town.
MINE KILLS WOMAN, CHILD: A landmine killed a child and a woman during a Kurdish wedding party in scenic countryside near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, police said.
Kirkuk police chief Shirko Shaker said 13 other guests were wounded when the mine exploded about 10 km (six miles) north of Kirkuk.
He said the mine was probably left over from former wars and that the explosion was not a deliberate attack.
Kirkuk residents said the mountainous area was popular for weddings, with parties heading out of the city to dance and celebrate out of doors.
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