Ten US Marines killed, 11 injured in Iraqi bomb

Ten Marines were killed and 11 wounded by a roadside bomb near Fallujah, Iraq, in one of the deadliest attack on US troops in recent months, the Marine Corps announced today.

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

They were hit yesterday by a roadside bomb, which the military calls an improvised explosive device, made from several large artillery shells, the Marines said.

The Marines were on a foot patrol outside of Fallujah, about 30 miles west of Baghdad. Of the 11 who were wounded, seven have returned to duty, the Marine Corps statement said.

It added that Marines from the same unit continue to conduct counter-insurgency operations throughout Fallujah and surrounding areas.

The names of those killed were withheld pending notification of their relatives, in line with usual military practice.

Defence Department officials said they did not immediately have any information beyond was what contained 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.

Since then the US military and the Iraqi government have been working to rebuild the city and limit the return of insurgents.