Roadside bomb kills ten US marines

TEN US marines on foot patrol were killed and 11 wounded by a roadside bomb near Fallujah, Iraq, in one of the deadliest attacks on American troops in recent months.

A brief statement said the marines were from Regimental Combat Team 8, of the 2nd Marine Division.

They were hit on Thursday by a roadside bomb, which the military calls an improvised explosive device, or IED, made from several large artillery shells, the marines said. IEDs are the most common cause of US casualties in Iraq.

The marines were attacked outside of Fallujah, about 30 miles west of Baghdad. Of the 11 wounded, seven have returned to duty, the Marine Corps statement said. It added that marines from the same unit continue to conduct counterinsurgency operations throughout Fallujah and surrounding areas.

The names of those killed were withheld pending notification of their relatives, in line with usual military practice. Pentagon officials said they did not immediately have any information beyond what was in the Marine Corps statement.

Fallujah had been a stronghold of the insurgents until US forces, led by marines, assaulted the city in November 2004. The US military and Iraqi government have been working to rebuild the city and limit the return of insurgents.

Deadly insurgent attacks in the Fallujah area have become less common in recent months, although one marine, Corporal Joshua D Snyder, 20, of Hampstead, Maryland, died of wounds from small-arms fire during combat operations in the city on Wednesday.

The 10 deaths on Thursday marked the deadliest incident for marines in Iraq since 14 were killed by a roadside bomb on August 3 near Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. Those marines were in a lightly armoured vehicle when it hit the bomb, flipped into the air and exploded in a fireball.