14 marines, reporter killed in Iraq

BASRA – Fourteen US marines were killed in a rebel attack in western Iraq yesterday following the death of a US freelance journalist who was gunned down in a relatively calm part of the country.

The attacks came as Iraqi politicians debated thorny issues in the draft constitution which must be put to parliament on August 15. The marines, along with an interpreter, were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb during combat operations near Haditha, 260 kilometres north-west of Baghdad, the US military said.One other marine was wounded.The latest deaths bring the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 1 811, according to AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.Since Monday a total of 21 marines have been killed in western Iraq’s Al-Anbar province.Twenty of them died near Haditha, while one was killed near the town of Hit, 170 kilometres west of Baghdad.Ansar al-Sunna, an extremist group linked with the al Qaeda network, said in an Internet statement that it had killed eight US marines and captured a ninth in western Iraq.Ansar al-Sunna said it had killed some of the marines on Monday by “slitting their throats,” while others were shot.The statement could not be verified.It also said its fighters had captured a ninth US marine “who was wounded in an ambush…near Haditha.”The group vowed to publish more details on the killings and pictures of the “American prisoner” later.Ansar al-Sunna has claimed a string of attacks in Iraq, including murders of foreign hostages and Iraqis accused of “collaborating” with US-led forces.The announcement of the marine deaths came a few hours after the news that US journalist Steven Vincent, 50, was shot dead after being snatched on Tuesday evening from a street in central Basra.Vincent, who had been in Basra for the last two months, was picked up along with his female Iraqi translator who was also shot twice but survived.- Nampa-AFPThe marines, along with an interpreter, were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb during combat operations near Haditha, 260 kilometres north-west of Baghdad, the US military said.One other marine was wounded.The latest deaths bring the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 1 811, according to AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.Since Monday a total of 21 marines have been killed in western Iraq’s Al-Anbar province.Twenty of them died near Haditha, while one was killed near the town of Hit, 170 kilometres west of Baghdad.Ansar al-Sunna, an extremist group linked with the al Qaeda network, said in an Internet statement that it had killed eight US marines and captured a ninth in western Iraq.Ansar al-Sunna said it had killed some of the marines on Monday by “slitting their throats,” while others were shot.The statement could not be verified.It also said its fighters had captured a ninth US marine “who was wounded in an ambush…near Haditha.”The group vowed to publish more details on the killings and pictures of the “American prisoner” later.Ansar al-Sunna has claimed a string of attacks in Iraq, including murders of foreign hostages and Iraqis accused of “collaborating” with US-led forces.The announcement of the marine deaths came a few hours after the news that US journalist Steven Vincent, 50, was shot dead after being snatched on Tuesday evening from a street in central Basra.Vincent, who had been in Basra for the last two months, was picked up along with his female Iraqi translator who was also shot twice but survived.- Nampa-AFP