Six Marines killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Six U.S. Marines were killed by roadside bombs in Iraq during heavy fighting west of Baghdad, the military said Friday.

The deaths came as U.S. forces wrapped up one of two operations carried out in western Al Anbar province against insurgents ahead of a national referendum next week on Iraq’s draft constitution.

Four of the Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, were killed Thursday near Al Karmah, about 50 miles west of the Iraqi capital. The other two, assigned to the 2nd Division’s Regimental Combat Team 2, also were killed Thursday near the town of Qaim, close to the Syrian border.

More than 3,500 U.S. and Iraqi troops had been taking part over the past week in the two operations, Iron Fist and River Gate, along the Euphrates River.

The U.S. military said Friday that at least 50 alleged insurgents were killed during the six-day Iron Fist, which concluded Thursday.

A toll was not given for River Gate.

The two offensives were intended to crush logistical support for insurgents who, American commanders believe, are coming into Iraq across the porous border with Syria.

While officially ending the Iron Fist portion of the operation, which involved about 1,000 U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors, the military has established new outposts in Sadah, about 12 miles from the Syrian border, to control an area that has long been a trouble spot for American troops.

Some residents in Al Anbar, however, charged that the military attacks were politically motivated and would only encourage more Iraqis to join the insurgency.

“This is all tied up with the timing of the referendum,” said Sheik Iusamah Judaan, a tribal leader from the village of Karabilah near Qaim.

American military operations “will hinder the political process rather than facilitate it,” he said in a telephone interview.

“How can we have a referendum in one week?”