BAGHDAD, 31 October 2004 — US troops prepared for a major assault to capture the rebel towns of Ramadi and Fallujah as eight Marines were killed yesterday in the bloodiest attack on American forces in Iraq in almost seven months.
Violence flared across Iraq ahead of the offensive, expected any day, and US planes and artillery pounded Fallujah in the country’s Sunni heartland.
Seven people were killed by a car bomb outside the Al-Arabiya television office in Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said, and seven Iraqis died in clashes with US troops in an area dubbed the triangle of death southwest of the capital. The US military said the Marines were killed in the restive western province of Anbar, which includes Fallujah and Ramadi, but gave no details. Nine Marines were also wounded.
Witnesses said earlier they had seen three US vehicles burning on a road east of Fallujah, in the same province. It was not clear if that was where the Marine casualties occurred. The deaths bring to 858 the number of US troops killed in combat. The total number of US troop deaths, including accidents and other causes, is now almost 1,120.
US Marine commanders said on Friday they were preparing for a major assault on Fallujah and Ramadi.
The aim is to crush guerrillas and root out Arab militants led by declared Al-Qaeda ally Abu Mussab Zarqawi to enable Iraq’s interim government to hold national elections in January.
At least a dozen airstrikes hit southeastern Fallujah, witnesses said. US Marine spokesman Lt. Lyle Gilbert said Marines on the edge of Fallujah had come under mortar fire from insurgents and called in artillery support. He said it was the “most consistent and drawn out artillery barrage in recent days”, but was not the start of the offensive.
Marine commanders say they face a volatile mix of up to 2,000 Iraqi and foreign fighters entrenched in the city. Some are thought to be former army officers loyal to Saddam Hussein, others militants led by Zarqawi, a Jordanian.
