10 US Marines killed in Iraq bombing

reuters: Ten U.S. Marines conducting a foot patrol outside Falluja were killed by an insurgent bomb on Thursday in one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq this year, the U.S. military announced on Friday.

The deaths came as President George W. Bush struggles to boost waning U.S. public support for the war, and as a growing U.S. troop-casualty toll has fueled calls by critics for a timetable to withdraw troops.

In a statement released in Falluja, the military said another 11 Marines were wounded in the blast, which was caused by an "improvised explosive device" fashioned from several large artillery shells. Seven of those wounded have been able to return to duty, the military said.

The attack was one of the worst single incidents to hit U.S. Marines in the war.

In another deadly incident, 14 Marines died on Aug. 3 south of Haditha in western Iraq, when their Amphibious Assault Vehicle was blown up with a roadside bomb made from three land mines. Read more

db: The BBC reported today - 6.10 pm Radio 4 - that the US military estimates that 30,000 Iraqi 'insurgents' have been killed since the invasion of Iraq - and that hence they feel they are 'winning'.