BAGHDAD — A roadside bomb killed 10 Marines and wounded 11 others on a foot patrol near Fallujah, the U.S. military announced Friday. It was the deadliest attack against American troops in four months.
The ambush occurred Thursday against Marines from Regimental Combat Team 8, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The Marine unit has suffered some of the highest casualties of the Iraq war.
The unit's latest losses were among 14 new deaths in Iraq announced by the military Friday. With at least 793 Americans killed since January, 2005 appears on track to become the deadliest year for the troops since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. There were 846 deaths in 2004, and 485 the previous year.
The attack in Fallujah came a day after President Bush outlined his strategy for victory in Iraq, and at a time when there are growing calls for an exit plan for U.S. troops.
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The roadside bomb in Fallujah, the former insurgent headquarters west of the capital, was fashioned from several large artillery shells, the military said.
Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the ambush a "very serious attack," saying "it appears that this group of Marines had collected — which is always a dangerous thing — in sort of one location."
The military statement said seven of the wounded later returned to duty and that the rest of the team was conducting "counterinsurgency operations throughout Fallujah and the surrounding area" to improve security for the Dec. 15 elections.
Names of the victims were not released pending notification of their families. The statement also did not give the precise location of the attack — the single deadliest against U.S. troops in Iraq since 14 Marines were killed Aug. 3 when a bomb destroyed their vehicle near Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.
Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune for the II Marine Expeditionary Force, said the victims of Thursday's ambush probably came from hometowns across the country rather than from one area.
"Here at Camp Lejeune, we pause, we stop, we feel it, and then we carry on with the mission," Gilmore said. "Those folks in Iraq, they probably didn't even have time to pause and think about it. ... The folks that are on patrol right now might not have even heard of it."
U.S. forces have stepped up military operations throughout the Sunni Arab regions west of Baghdad to cut off the flow of weapons, ammunition and foreign fighters entering the country from Syria and to reduce insurgent activity.
As part of that campaign, the U.S. military on Friday launched a new offensive — Operation Shank — in Ramadi, capital of insurgent-ridden Anbar province. About 200 Iraqi army soldiers and 300 U.S. Marines were taking part in the offensive, the fifth in Ramadi since Nov. 16.
On Thursday, insurgents allowed a local AP Television News cameraman to film gunmen as they strolled briefly through empty streets, kneeled with their weapons at the ready and issued a declaration claiming they were "controlling the city." Ramadi has been the scene of repeated insurgent attacks but the U.S. military disputed claims the rebels control a significant area of the city.
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● Deaths: 2,125
● Wounded: 15,881
● Marine Staff Sgt. William D. Richardson, 30, Houston; assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron-372, Marine Wing Support Group-37, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
● Army Sgt. 1st Class Brent A. Adams, 40, of West View, Pa.; assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Washington, Pa.
Source: Department of Defense. Deaths as of Friday. Wounded as of Tuesday.
