Seven U.S. Marines killed in western Iraq -military

[thedrifter]

Seven U.S. Marines killed in western Iraq -military
1 hour, 11 minutes ago

Seven U.S. Marines have been killed in fighting in western Iraq, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, pushing the U.S. death toll from more than two years of fighting above 1,800.

Six of the Marines were killed on Monday near Haditha, a town on the Euphrates river 200 km (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad, said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman.

It was not immediately clear if they were killed in a single attack or if they died in separate clashes with insurgents.

The seventh was also killed on Monday, by a car bomb blast in the town of Hit, about 70 km southeast of Haditha, the Marines said in a statement.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, a group allied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, claimed responsibility for the death of the Marine in Hit in a statement posted on the Internet.

The deaths raise to 1,805 the number of U.S. troops to have died since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003, according to a Reuters count based on information provided by the Pentagon.

In the past month, nearly 60 have died, including five who were killed in two roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad at the weekend.

The Euphrates river valley, which runs to the border with Syria, has become a hotbed of insurgency in recent months.

U.S. forces have launched at least two major offensives in the area around Haditha and further west toward the Syrian border in the past three months to try to quell guerrilla activity in the region.

Often insurgents flee when U.S. troops arrive, only to return a few days later once the offensive is over.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

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[thedrifter]

August 08, 2005
Around the Corps
Compiled from military and other public sources.

Iraq

9 dead in airstrike against insurgents

Iraqi soldiers and members of 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, participated in an operation in which nine insurgents were killed during a firefight in a small village near Haditha, Iraq, 2nd Marine Division officials said July 28.

The Marines were patrolling in the city of Cykla when insurgents attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, division spokesmen said in a press release.

The Marines determined that the rounds were being fired from three buildings and called in air support from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, which dispatched aircraft that destroyed the buildings by dropping three laser-guided bombs and one Global Positioning System-guided bomb. Collateral damage to surrounding structures was described as “minimal.”

Five of the dead were Syrian nationals, the release said, and two insurgents were detained for questioning.

California

New range readies artillerymen for Iraq

Artillerymen with Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, broke in a new firing range at Camp Pendleton, Calif., designed to train the unit for the missions it will conduct in Iraq when it deploys later this summer, according to a July 22 Corps press release.

The new range is the result of an eight-month construction project that produced a new firing base that sits atop a hill overlooking a large “sandbox” that serves as the target for the Marines’ M198 howitzers, according to the release.

The fire base consists of eight depressions placed beyond the howitzer’s range by just a few meters. At least six artillerymen are needed to pick up the howitzer and move it into position, which the release said adds to the realism of the training.

Hawaii

13th MEU volunteers at homeless shelters

A group of 23 Marines and sailors from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed aboard the ships of the Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group, volunteered its time at homeless shelters during a July 28 stop in Hawaii.

Upon arrival at the Institute for Human Services in downtown Honolulu, the volunteers cleaned living areas within the shelter.

After completing work at the first shelter in half the allotted time, they traveled to another IHS shelter designated for women and performed similar services.

A 13th MEU spokesman said the community service event in Hawaii is one of several planned community-relations events.

Georgia

22nd MEU trains for urban combat

Marines from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in the Savannah, Ga., area July 26 to conduct two weeks of urban training in preparation for a deployment later this year.

About 600 Marines and 21 aircraft are participating in the exercise.

As part of the training, Marine helicopter pilots will practice urban flying and navigation techniques using routes and altitudes approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a MEU news release that said the training has been coordinated with local, state and federal law enforcement officials.

North Carolina

Lejeune dentalmen prep for deployment

More than 30 sailors assigned to 2nd Dental Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, completed a two-week field exercise at Camp Lejeune, N.C., on July 27 intended to prepare them for an upcoming deployment to Iraq.

During the exercise, the sailors conducted actual dental work on Marines so the unit’s dental technicians would be familiar with equipment they will use while deployed, according to a Corps news release.

The new gear was designed for field dentistry in Iraq and is currently being used there.

“Although the equipment is good for the field, a lot of us are not familiar with the gear,” said Dentalman 3rd Class Raymond Vaclavik. “However, we make do with what we have. Like the saying goes, we are ‘Semper Gumbi.’”

Ellie