Marine dies of wounds in Baghdad

A US Marine died of wounds sustained yesterday during fighting west of Baghdad, the military announced today.

The Marines said in a statement that the a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died of wounds sustained during “security and stability operations” in the Al-Anbar province.

It was not immediately clear where in the turbulent province the Marine had been fighting when he was fatally injured.

Marines and Iraqi insurgents fought day-long clashes on Wednesday in the Al-Anbar town of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

The US military also launched a “precision strike” on Friday on 10-12 suspected militants tied to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the nearby town of Fallujah.

No US ground forces were reported to have been involved in that operation. A hospital official said five civilians, including three children, were injured.

The name of the deceased Marine was withheld pending next-of-kin notification.

The death raised the US toll in Iraq since the beginning of the war to 903.

Iraq has been wracked by a 15-month-long insurgency that has used car bombings, sabotage, kidnappings and other violence to try to drive out coalition forces and hamper reconstruction efforts.