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WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2004 – A soldier and a Marine died in separate actions in Iraq, military officials reported today.
The Task Force Baghdad soldier died in an improvised explosive device attack on his vehicle today. The Marine, assigned to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed Sept. 24 during security and stability operations in Anbar province. The servicemembers' names are being withheld till next of kin are notified. Also, seven Iraqi civilians died in a grenade attack on an Iraqi National Guard recruiting center in Baghdad today. Witnesses reported a passing vehicle used grenades and small-arms fire to carry out the attack. The Iraqi police confirmed that the civilians had come to the center to file job applications. In other action, multinational forces conducted a precision strike on a known terrorist meeting site in central Fallujah today. Intelligence sources said elements of the Abu Musab al Zarqawi terrorist network were using the site to plan attacks against Iraqi citizens and multinational forces. About 30 minutes before the air strike, anti-Iraqi forces from within Fallujah had fired upon multinational forces near city limits and were seen running into a house. Officials said multiple measures were taken during the strike to minimize damage and civilian casualties in the area. Also in Fallujah a few hours before the strike, multinational forces conducted operations against what was termed an "offensive obstacle belt." The belt, built by anti-Iraqi forces, consisted of a series of concrete and earth barriers and roadblocks, interlaced with improvised explosive devices. Such obstacle are designed to restrict movement within the city and to provide attack points against Multinational Force Iraq units. In other news, Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard units stopped three IED attacks Sept. 24 along roads in northern Iraq. In Mosul, police noticed a rocket-propelled grenade with wires hanging from it, while 101st Iraqi National Guard Battalion members observed a roadside artillery shell. In Tal Afar, police noticed two suspicious plastic containers filled with cement near a road. A private pipeline security company found another IED along a major oil pipeline west of Balad Sept. 24. Oil flow remained uninterrupted. (Based on news releases from Multinational Force Iraq.)
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