WASHINGTON - More Army and Marine reservists have died in Iraq since the start of the Fallujah offensive than in any comparable period since American forces entered Iraq in March 2003.

At least nine reservists died on Monday, according to an Associated Press count. Six were members of the Marine Corps Reserve, two were Army National Guard and one was Army Reserve. More U.S. troops were killed Tuesday, but details on their service affiliations are incomplete. An Army National Guard soldier from California also was killed on Sunday in Baghdad.

Nine is the highest number of part-time soldiers and Marines to have died in Iraq on a single day since the U.S.-led invasion was launched in March 2003. The only comparable surge in deaths of reservists was in June 2004 when nine died in a four-day span, according to Pentagon records.

The Pentagon's reporting of casualties since the Fallujah offensive began Monday has been slower and more incomplete than normal, in part because the military believes that detailed information is of potential value to the insurgent forces they are battling in the Sunni Arab city.

On Thursday, a Marine Corps commander in Fallujah told reporters that 18 U.S. service members had died since the offensive began. That total includes the nine reservists, but the Pentagon has not released names and other details for all 18.

It is unclear how many of the nine reservists killed Monday were directly involved in the Fallujah fighting. Several clearly were not; Spc. Bryan L. Freeman, of the Army Reserve's 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion in Warwick, R.I., for example, died of wounds sustained in Baghdad. Two members of the Kansas Army National Guard were killed in a car bombing in Baghdad.

National Guard and Reserve troops have played a prominent role in Iraq from the start of combat in 2003, and their numbers have grown in recent months. They now make up more than 40 percent of the total U.S. force in Iraq. There is no information on how many are now in Fallujah.

Among the active-duty soldiers killed in Fallujah was Command Sgt. Maj. Steven W. Faulkenburg, 45, of Huntingburg, Ind. He was the senior noncommissioned officer in the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. The Pentagon said he was struck by small arms fire Tuesday.

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