December 14, 2004

Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two Marines were killed in action in Iraq’s volatile western Anbar province, the military said Tuesday, taking the number of Marines reported killed in the region in past three days to 10.
A military statement said two Marines assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in action Monday “while conducting security and stabilization operations” in the vast Anbar province west of Baghdad, which includes the battleground cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

Seven Marines died in action Sunday in Anbar, the deadliest day for the Marines since eight of their service members were killed by a car bomb Oct. 30 outside Fallujah. Another Marine was killed Saturday. It was unclear where in Anbar the Marines died.

The deaths brought to nearly 1,300 the number of American troops killed in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003.

Fifty-four Americans were among hundreds who died in a bloody weeklong campaign last month in Fallujah to uproot insurgents who had taken control of the city.

But violence resumed there over the weekend as U.S. forces and militants clashed in the city and American warplanes dropped at least 10 missiles on suspected rebel positions.