Topic: U.S. military reports three marines killed in action

Team Infidel

BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) Three U.S. marines have died in combat as
part of Operation Steel Curtain along the Syrian border, the U.S. command
said Tuesday.
One marine from assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine
Division died Tuesday from wounds incurred from a bomb that exploded Monday.
Another marine from the same unit died Monday from a roadside bomb in
Obeidi, the same border town, a statement said.
The third marine died from small arms fire on Monday, another
statement said. He was assigned to the same unit.
U.S.-Iraqi forces entered Obeidi as part of the latest stage of an
offensive to clear al-Qaida-led insurgents from a string of towns and cities
in the Euphrates River valley near the border with Syria and seal off a
major infiltration route for foreign fighters sneaking into Iraq.
"Approximately 50 insurgents are estimated to have been killed in
sporadic but heavy fighting," a U.S. statement said late Monday. Most of the
insurgents died in at least five U.S. airstrikes.
Earlier this month, U.S. and Iraqi forces overran two other towns in
the area _ Husaybah and Karabilah. Unlike in previous sweeps in the area,
the Americans and their Iraqi allies plan to establish a long-term presence
to prevent insurgents from returning.
As of Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005, at least 2,071 members of the U.S.
military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003,
according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,613 died as a result of
hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include
five military civilians.

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