A picture released Tuesday by the U.S. Marines website shows a mosque hit by a laser guide bomb (AFP)

FALLUJAH, Iraq, April 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. occupation troops breached Tuesday, April 13, the ceasefire reached days ago in the restive Iraqi town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killing at least nine Iraqis and wounding up to 38 others.

"We have nine killed and 38 wounded today," Mohammed Tabsh, a doctor at the main medical center of Fallujah, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The wounded include three women and four children," he added, asserting that "most of the injuries were from tank fire and sniper fire."

U.S. F-15 jet fighters bombarded Tuesday Fallujah, which has been under a crippling U.S. siege since April 5.

The first sorties came at about 7:20 p.m. (1520 GMT), followed by at least three more over the next 15 minutes, according to AFP.

The air attacks had been preceded by land-based machine-gun fire at around 7:00 p.m.

The bombardment came shortly after U.S. tanks and armored vehicles which rolled into Nazzal district were forced to retreat amid stiff resistance from Iraqi fighters, Aljazeera reported.

TV footage also showed several bullets fired at mosques' minarets, though it was not clear from the footage if there were Iraqi fighters taking cover in the minarets at the time.

An AFP correspondent said the situation was very tense, with the fragile ceasefire frequently being punctuated by gunfire.

Witness Mohammed Aidan told the correspondent that "the Americans fired tank fire at 5:30 pm (1330 GMT) and a shell fell on a building housing the teachers' institute in the Al-Andalus neighborhood."

A U.S. Marine amphibious assault vehicle moves towards a battle in Fallujah

Clashes also broke out in the Al-Jumhuriya quarter, he added.

The confrontations continued for more than half an hour and black smoke billowed into the sky over the area.

The U.S. violation came as the fragile truce had been extended until late Tuesday to allow more time for talks to end the current stand-off, a mediator said.

"It is supposed to last at least until late Tuesday, but we are hoping for longer," said Fouda Rawi, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party which is leading the mediation for a permanent truce.

The warring parties in the town reached Sunday a 12-hour ceasefire and extended it Monday for another 24 hours.

The U.S. offensive has claimed the lives of at least 600 Iraqis, mostly women and children, and left up to 1500 others injured.

Thousands Displaced    

The Iraqi Red Crescent said Tuesday it was preparing to set up a camp for thousands of Iraqi families who fled the bitter fighting in Fallujah.

An initial 170 refugee tents are to provide refuge for about 750 people, said Mohammed Ibrahim, responsible for the emergency aid operation on the edge of the town.

It was not immediately clear whether the camp would offer long-term shelter or serve only as a half-way home for those heading to stay with relatives elsewhere in Iraq.

According to the Red Crescent, 5,000 families have left the city.

Hundreds of families have since set up camp on farmland around Fallujah, and the neighboring villages of Nuaimiya and Zaydan.

Others have managed to flee further, to the western outskirts of the capital, like Ghazaliya, where Iraq's Sunni Muslim Scholars Association has mobilized local residents into taking them in.

Helicopter Downed, Marine Killed

Meanwhile, U.S. occupation Marines took more fire Tuesday with one soldier killed and seven others wounded during fighting outside Fallujah, a U.S. military spokesman said.

"One marine was killed and seven others wounded in the Fallujah area today," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The spokesman added that the incident took place after ground fire forced a U.S. helicopter to make an emergency landing near the hotspot town.

U.S. military officials said three U.S. occupation soldiers were wounded in the rescue effort.

The MH-53 helicopter, which can carry up to 55 people, came down southeast of Fallujah two days after an Apache attack helicopter was shot down in the same region, killing the two-man crew.

As the Marines took the casualties to a trauma center, they were ambushed by resistance fighters firing mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, and suffered more casualties, a U.S. officer said, without giving further details.

At least 70 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq this month alone, taking to 676 the number of U.S. military deaths since the start of the war to occupy oil-rich Iraq, according to an AFP count.