U.S. Navy Loses 3 Marines and 1 Sailor in the Last 24 Hours

in Iraq - Rob Kettenburg

U.S. Navy Loses 3 Marines and 1 Sailor in the Last 24 Hours

Wed Nov 2, 2005 22:44

68.70.130.203

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=14929

BAGHDAD - Four US servicemen have been killed in and around the restive western Iraqi town of Ramadi, including two US marines who died in the crash of their attack helicopter, the military said Wednesday.

There was no immediate word on the cause of Wednesday morning's crash, but in a separate statement the military said an F-18 fighter jet bombed a suspected insurgent command centre 500 metres (yards) from the site of the crash a few hours after the helicopter went down.

The crash occurred "while the two-man crew was flying in support of security and stabilization operations," the military said.

Another marine and a sailor serving with the marine expeditionary force were also killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Ramadi on Tuesday, the military added.

The deaths brought to at least 2,026 (eds: correct) the number of US military personnel who have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.

Meanwhile, six Iraqis were killed in the latest violence Wednesday, as US forces announced the capture of two Yemenis they said were members of the Al-Qaeda network.

A roadside bomb exploded as a police patrol passed in south Baghdad, leaving its occupants unscathed but killing five civilian bystanders and wounding three, the interior ministry said.

A second bomb aimed at a small bus carrying workers to an oil refinery in the Dura neighborhood wounded another five people, ministry officials said.

One civilian was killed and nine wounded when a car bomb exploded in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk, Police General Monas Yitzak said.

A passing US convoy that is believed to have been the target of the attack escaped unscathed, he added.

Separately, US forces announced the capture of two men in southern Baghdad believed to be Yemeni operatives of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

The men are "suspected members of a Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda who were on a reconnaissance assignment in Baghdad," the military said. "Both were in possession of Yemeni passports."

The men "admitted to being from Yemen," said Captain Matthew Wheeler, a US intelligence officer. "There is a lot of circumstantial evidence against the detainees, and that will solidify as we examine the evidence more closely."

US officials said US and Iraqi soldiers had also captured 12 suspects as well as 65 AK-47 rifles, three light machine guns and ammunition in a separate raid on Monday night.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi government said that security forces found the body of Abd al-Satar, who they described as "a key Al-Qaeda member" and the current "emir" of Mosul, the country's main northern city.

"The security forces conduct a raid and found Abd al-Satar's body on the truck with three other dead terrorists," the government said.

According to the government, three other "emirs" of Mosul were captured or killed in June, August and September.

The US military also announced a series of air strikes "against three Al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist safe houses" around the far western Iraqi town of Husaybah, near the border with Syria.

The strike reportedly killed Abu Asim, described as "a senior Al-Qaeda in Iraq foreign fighter facilitator who was recently brought in to replace another facilitator thought to have been killed by Coalition Forces."

Rob Kettenburg