Five U.S. Marines died in an ambush on the Syrian border, triggering a battle with hundreds of guerrillas and pushing the number Americans killed in combat this month to 99.
At least 25 Iraqis were killed in the fighting that followed Saturday's ambush in Husaybah, 240 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. The city's police chief was among the dead, a hospital official said.
Across Iraq, Saturday was one of the bloodiest days for U.S. troops since the latest uprising began April 4. Five U.S. troops were killed in guerrilla attacks elsewhere in the country and a sixth died in a tank rollover.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces struggled to maintain control of Iraq's highways. The military announced new closures around Baghdad that severed long stretches of roads into the capital from the north, south and west -- a reflection of the damage from a two-week guerrilla onslaught on U.S. supply lines.
Insurgent attacks and kidnappers' roadblocks have forced the military to curtail supply convoys and are part of the reason commanders have boosted ground forces by more than 20,000 U.S. troops. The military has already been tied down since April 1 on fronts in southern and central Iraq in the worst violence since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Officials have said the violence threatens to hamstring U.S. reconstruction effort and drive up prices of civilian goods, dealing a blow to a delicate economic recovery in Iraq.
More than 1,500 foreign engineers and contractors have fled Iraq for fear of being abducted or killed, Iraqi Housing Minister Bayan Baqer said Sunday.
The military in Baghdad on Sunday announced the death of five U.S. troops the day before in attacks across Iraq.
Three soldiers were killed when their 1st Armored Division convoy was ambushed near the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah. Another died when a roadside bomb exploded near a military convoy in Baghdad, and a Marine was killed in action in western Iraq, separate from the fighting by the Syrian border.
Along with the fighting at the border, the deaths brought to 99 the number of U.S. troops in violence killed since April 1. With the death of a soldier in a tank rollover in Baghdad on Saturday, at least 697 U.S. servicemembers have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.
Rockets aimed at a military camp in western Baghdad hit a nearby civilian area, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding four others, as well as wounding two U.S. civilian contractors and one soldier.
The fighting in Husaybah began when insurgents ambushed Marines on Saturday, sparking a battle with hundreds of rebel gunmen.
Fighting continued Sunday in three neighborhoods of the city, which was sealed off by U.S. forces.
Five Marines were killed in the fighting, said Marine spokesman Lt. Eric Knapp. He also said some Marines were wounded, but did not give a number. He reported 25-30 insurgents were killed.
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At least 25 Iraqis were killed in the fighting that followed Saturday's ambush in Husaybah, 240 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. The city's police chief was among the dead, a hospital official said.
Across Iraq, Saturday was one of the bloodiest days for U.S. troops since the latest uprising began April 4. Five U.S. troops were killed in guerrilla attacks elsewhere in the country and a sixth died in a tank rollover.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces struggled to maintain control of Iraq's highways. The military announced new closures around Baghdad that severed long stretches of roads into the capital from the north, south and west -- a reflection of the damage from a two-week guerrilla onslaught on U.S. supply lines.
Insurgent attacks and kidnappers' roadblocks have forced the military to curtail supply convoys and are part of the reason commanders have boosted ground forces by more than 20,000 U.S. troops. The military has already been tied down since April 1 on fronts in southern and central Iraq in the worst violence since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Officials have said the violence threatens to hamstring U.S. reconstruction effort and drive up prices of civilian goods, dealing a blow to a delicate economic recovery in Iraq.
More than 1,500 foreign engineers and contractors have fled Iraq for fear of being abducted or killed, Iraqi Housing Minister Bayan Baqer said Sunday.
The military in Baghdad on Sunday announced the death of five U.S. troops the day before in attacks across Iraq.
Three soldiers were killed when their 1st Armored Division convoy was ambushed near the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah. Another died when a roadside bomb exploded near a military convoy in Baghdad, and a Marine was killed in action in western Iraq, separate from the fighting by the Syrian border.
Along with the fighting at the border, the deaths brought to 99 the number of U.S. troops in violence killed since April 1. With the death of a soldier in a tank rollover in Baghdad on Saturday, at least 697 U.S. servicemembers have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.
Rockets aimed at a military camp in western Baghdad hit a nearby civilian area, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding four others, as well as wounding two U.S. civilian contractors and one soldier.
The fighting in Husaybah began when insurgents ambushed Marines on Saturday, sparking a battle with hundreds of rebel gunmen.
Fighting continued Sunday in three neighborhoods of the city, which was sealed off by U.S. forces.
Five Marines were killed in the fighting, said Marine spokesman Lt. Eric Knapp. He also said some Marines were wounded, but did not give a number. He reported 25-30 insurgents were killed.
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