BAGHDAD, 3 December 2005 — Ten US Marines conducting a foot patrol at a factory outside Fallujah were killed by an insurgent bomb on Thursday in one of the deadliest attacks on US forces in Iraq this year, the US military said yesterday.
The deaths came as President George W. Bush struggles to boost waning US public support for the war, and as a growing US troop-casualty toll has fueled calls by critics for a timetable to withdraw troops.
The attack was one of the worst single incidents to hit US Marines in the war. In another deadly incident, 14 Marines died on Aug. 3 south of Haditha in western Iraq, when their Amphibious Assault Vehicle was blown up with a roadside bomb made from three land mines.
Military officials said another 11 Marines were wounded in Thursday’s blast, which was caused by an “improvised explosive device” fashioned from four large artillery shells. Seven of those wounded have been able to return to duty, the military said in a statement released in Fallujah.
The explosion occurred as the Marines were on a foot patrol in the courtyard of a factory located southwest of Fallujah — long a hotbed for the insurgency — in the late afternoon, said a defense official at the Pentagon who asked not to be named. The official declined to identify the type of factory.
“We are saddened by the loss of life, whether it’s one soldier who loses his or her life, or 10 or 11, we are saddened to hear that news,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of the incident.
“Our heart and prayers go out to the families, their loved ones paid the ultimate sacrifice for an important cause and we are forever grateful for their service and sacrifice,” he said.
The military statement said that Marines “continue to conduct counterinsurgency operations throughout Fallujah and surrounding areas to provide a secure environment for the national elections on Dec. 15.” Iraqi voters choose a new government in those elections, which the Bush administration hopes will help stabilize the country.
The Pentagon’s official tally yesterday of US military deaths in the war was 2,125, with nearly 16,000 more wounded in combat.
The incident near Fallujah occurred a day after Bush outlined vision for victory in Iraq, in a speech that acknowledged the US military has sustained “setbacks” in the campaign. The United States has roughly 160,000 troops in Iraq, having built up the force to help provide extra security for the elections.
In his speech, Bush rejected calls for a timetable on bringing troops home, but said a reduction in troop levels may be possible as Iraqi security forces assume a bigger role.
The Marines who were killed were part of Regimental Combat Team 8 of the 2nd Marine Division, part of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, the military said.
In Ramadi, 112 km west of Baghdad, the US military launched a counterinsurgency operation code-named Operation Shank, a statement said.
“The purpose of the operation is to disrupt a terrorist group that utilizes an area of Ramadi as its base for attacks on local Ramadi citizens, Iraqi and US military,” the statement said. It is the fifth such operation in the area in recent weeks designed to calm the area before the elections.
