Home > Eight US marines killed, nine wounded in Iraq
Wars and conflicts International
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Eight US marines were killed and nine wounded west of Baghdad on Saturday in the bloodiest attack on US forces in Iraq for months.
The US military gave no details of the circumstances of the deaths, which it said occurred in the western province of Anbar, which includes the rebel cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.
Witnesses said earlier they had seen three US vehicles burning on a road east of Fallujah, in Anbar province. It was not clear if that is where the marine casualties occurred.
The latest deaths bring to 858 the number of US troops killed in combat in Iraq since the start of last year’s war.
US marine commanders said on Friday they were preparing to storm Fallujah and Ramadi to crush guerrillas and foreign militants led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as part of efforts to pacify Iraq before elections in January.
US warplanes and artillery pounded targets in Fallujah during clashes with insurgents on Saturday, witnesses said.
US marine spokesman Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert said marines reconnoitring in force on the southeastern edge of Fallujah in the early afternoon had come under mortar fire from insurgents and called in artillery support.
Gilbert called the action the “most consistent and drawn out artillery barrage in recent days”, but said it did not mark the beginning of a long-anticipated US offensive.
“This is part of daily operations. When we operate close to the (insurgents) they get spooked or aggressive and we take it to them,” he told reporters at a base near Fallujah.
There was no immediate word on casualties and a US military spokesman had no comment on the fighting.
US planes bombed Fallujah late on Friday night in what the military said were two strikes on weapons caches. City hospital officials said an air raid earlier on Friday killed three men.
Marine commanders say they face a mix of up to 2,000 Iraqi and foreign fighters entrenched in Fallujah. Some are thought to be former army officers loyal to Saddam Hussein, others Islamist militants led by Zarqawi.
“We are gearing up for a major operation,” Brigadier General Denis Hejlik said at a base near Fallujah on Friday. “If we do so, it will be decisive and we will whack them.”
Hejlik, deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said the expected assault would involve Iraqi forces. (Reuters)