Seven Marines die in two Iraq attacks

Tuesday, August 2, 2005; Posted: 2:21 p.m. EDT (18:21 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Seven U.S. Marines died Monday in two incidents north of Baghdad, the military said Tuesday.

According to military news releases, six Marines died in combat near Haditha, about 135 miles (217 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.

Another Marine died in a suicide car bombing near Hit, 95 miles (152 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.

All seven were assigned to Regimental Combat Team-2, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.

Insurgents attacked a group of Marines patrolling on foot outside Haditha on Monday, the Marine Corps said in a written statement. Five died in the initial attack, and the body of a sixth was discovered later a few kilometers away. All were killed by small-arms fire, the Marines said.

No further information was released about the gun battle, and the names of the dead were not immediately released.

"The circumstances of the incident are under investigation," the Marines said.

Hit and Haditha are Sunni Arab cities along the Euphrates River. Both have been the subject of recent efforts by U.S. and Iraqi troops to clear out insurgents.

Haditha has been the subject of at least two Marine-led anti-insurgent operations since January. A third operation has targeted areas along the Euphrates between Haditha and Hit.

The deaths brought the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war to 1,806, according to military reports.

U.S. convoy hit

A suicide car bomber attacked a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding 29 people, Iraqi police said.

Police said the attacker struck as the convoy traveled though an underpass beneath al-Tahrir Square. Fifteen vehicles were destroyed.

Police said they found the remains of the suicide bomber.

In Baquba, meanwhile, police said gunmen on Tuesday killed a Diyala province Health Ministry official and his driver near Diyala Medical College.

Dr. Abdul Hassan Mehdi was director of Khalis General Hospital in the town of Khalis, police said.

Also in Baquba on Tuesday, a bomb attack on an Iraqi police convoy killed a police officer and a child, police said. Seven police and a civilian were wounded in the blast. Baquba is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Terror group commander captured

Iraqi police have captured a top commander of Ansar al-Sunna, a terrorist group blamed for last year's suicide bombing at a U.S. military mess hall in Mosul that killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops.

A U.S. military statement released Monday said Majid Mohammed Ahmeen, the group's commander in Diyala province and its self-proclaimed emir, was picked up along with a dozen other Ansar al-Sunna members in a series of raids in July. All are being held by coalition forces in Baquba.

Military spokesman Maj. Steve Warren said Iraqi police also seized videotape during the raids that shows insurgents carrying out attacks.

Two commanders of Ansar al-Sunna's assassination cells -- Abass Hussain Faissal and Rahd Mohamed Mahmood -- were among those captured during the raids. The military statement said those cells have been linked to at least 20 assassinations, including the death of Kathim E-Ekza, a member of the Khatoon city council.

According to the statement, Ahmeen coordinated with al Qaeda in Iraq and the Revolution of 1920 Group to conduct complex attacks in Baquba and throughout Diyala province.

CNN's Enes Dulami, Cal Perry and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/08/02/iraq.main/index.html