Marines killed in Falluja were at promotion ceremony

[thedrifter]

Marines killed in Falluja were at promotion ceremony
06 Dec 2005 15:01:34 GMT
Reuters

BAGHDAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Ten U.S. Marines killed near the Iraqi city of Falluja last week had been at a promotion ceremony and were not on foot patrol as initially reported, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

The Marines were in a disused flour mill on the outskirts of the city to celebrate the promotion of three soldiers, a military statement said.

As the ceremony ended, the Marines dispersed and one of them is thought to have stepped on a buried pressure plate linked to explosives that caused the devastating blast.

The death toll was the largest suffered by U.S. soldiers in Iraq in a single incident since August.

Eleven Marines were wounded in the explosion, which the military initially blamed on "an improvised explosive device (IED) fashioned from several large artillery shells".

The attack was particularly ill-timed for the Americans, coming just a day after President George W. Bush had given a speech outlining his strategy for Iraq and saying he would settle for "nothing less than complete victory".

In November last year, Falluja witnessed the biggest battle since the U.S. invasion of 2003. Dozens of troops and hundreds of Iraqis were killed in the city, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, as the Americans tried to bring it under control.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

December 06, 2005
Marines died inside old mill
By Sameer N. Yacoub
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Marine Corps updated their report Tuesday on the deaths of 10 Marines on Dec. 1.

The statement said the Marines from Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, were not on a foot patrol, as previously reported, but were inside an abandoned flour mill when they were killed by an explosion. The troops used the mill as a temporary patrol base.

The statement said the Marines had gathered in the mill for a promotion ceremony. The military suspects one of the Marines triggered a booby trap, causing the explosion, the statement said.

“Explosive experts believe four artillery shells were buried in two separate locations,” it read.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. military said a soldier assigned to Task Force Baghdad was killed when a patrol hit a roadside bomb Sunday. At least 2,129 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count.

Two suicide bombers struck Baghdad’s police academy Tuesday, killing at least 27 people and wounding 50 more, U.S. officials said, while Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video claiming to have kidnapped a U.S. security consultant.

Iraqi police estimated the death toll could reach 40, with about 70 police officers and students wounded. Five female police officers were among the dead, police Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.

The suicide attackers were wearing explosives-laden vests and a U.S. contractor was among those wounded, a U.S. military statement said. U.S. forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the statement said. The military initially said the bombers were women but later retracted the statement.

“One of the suicide bombers detonated near a group of students outside a classroom,” the Task Force Baghdad said. “Thinking the explosion was an indirect-fire attack, (Iraqi police) and students fled to a bunker for shelter where the second bomber detonated his vest.”

Five female police officers were among the dead, Iraqi police said.

“We were sitting in the yard when we heard an explosion,” said police Maj. Wisam al-Heyali. “Seconds later, we were hit by another explosion as we were running. I saw some of my colleagues falling down and I felt my hand hit, but I kept on running.”

Insurgents have concentrated their attacks against Iraqi security forces. Tuesday’s attack was the deadliest against Iraqi forces since Feb. 28, when a suicide car bomber attacked mostly Shiite police and National Guard recruits in Hillah, killing 125.

The video broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed a blond, Western-looking man sitting with his hands tied behind his back. The video also bore the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq and showed a U.S. passport and an identification card.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed.

If true, the man would become the second American taken hostage in the last two weeks. A U.S. citizen was among four peace activists taken hostage on Nov. 27 by a group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness. Two Canadians and a Briton were also part of that group

Ellie