4 US, 19 Iraqi troops dead

Four more US soldiers including a marine have died in the restive town of Ramadi, the Pentagon announced on Saturday. During the latest anti-insurgent operation in Ramadi, a soldier died of wounds sustained when a rocket struck his vehicle on Thursday. The city, 110 kilometres west of Baghdad, was the scene of rebel action on Thursday but the US command minimised the seriousness of appearance of armed men in broad daylight, saying it was a largely symbolic action for propaganda purposes. On Friday, three soldiers died in a car accident in Balad, north of Baghdad. This news comes following Friday’s announcement of the killing of 10 marines on Thursday during a night patrol near Fallujah, 50 kilometres west of the capital. That incident marks the single largest military combat death since August. A total of 2,125 US service personnel have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, the Pentagon said.