NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq – A car bomb killed eight U.S. Marines outside Fallujah Saturday, the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in nearly six months. Marines pounded guerrilla positions on the outskirts of Fallujah, where American forces are gearing up for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.
The Marines later reported a ninth combat death Saturday but did not say whether it was in the car bombing or another action.
In Baghdad, another car bomb exploded outside an Arabic television network’s offices, killing seven people and injuring 19 in the biggest attack against a news organization since the occupation began last year.
It was a day in which at least 30 people died in politically motivated violence across the country – stark evidence of a security situation threatening to spiral out of control.
Late Saturday, the decapitated body of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda, 24, was found in an insurgent-infested neighborhood of Baghdad. The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed Koda’s identity through fingerprints.
An al-Qaida-linked group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to behead the Japanese backpacker unless Tokyo withdrew its soldiers from Iraq. Japan rejected that demand.
South of Baghdad, witnesses said a U.S. convoy came under attack, prompting Iraqi forces to open fire randomly and throw hand grenades, hitting three minibuses and three vans. At least 14 people were killed, hospital officials said.
The Marine deaths came when a car bomb went off next to a truck southwest of Baghdad, said Maj. Clark Watson of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Nine other Marines were wounded in the attack in western Anbar province, which includes Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds, the military said.
It was the biggest number of American military deaths in a single day since May 2, when nine U.S. troops were killed in separate mortar attacks and roadside bombings in Baghdad, Ramadi and Kirkuk.
American forces are preparing for a major assault on Fallujah in an effort to restore control to a swath of Sunni Muslim towns north and west of the capital ahead of crucial national elections due by Jan. 31.
On Saturday, insurgents fired mortars at Marine positions outside Fallujah. U.S. troops responded with “the strongest artillery barrage in recent weeks,” said Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert.
Later, a Marine Harrier jet bombed a guerrilla mortar position inside Fallujah, then strafed it with machine-gun fire, Gilbert said. He had no reports of insurgent casualties.
Crowds of Iraqis peered skyward as two warplanes circled over the rebel-held city, where large explosions rumbled Saturday afternoon. Insurgents fired rockets and mortars toward U.S. Marine positions.
“This is very painful for Fallujah. I think they’re destroying the town and killing families there,” said Saadoun Mohamed, a 35-year-old driver near Fallujah.
“It’s very complicated. I don’t know how to solve this problem,” he said through an Iraqi Marine translator.
Clashes between U.S. troops and insurgents also started Saturday in Ramadi, west of Fallujah. Two policemen were killed and four Iraqis injured in the crossfire, said Dr. Saleh al-Duleimi of the Ramadi General Hospital.
In Baghdad, the car bomb exploded outside the office of the Al-Arabiya television network, a satellite broadcaster based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Seven people were killed and 19 injured, police and hospital officials said.
Three bodies, including one of a woman, were mangled beyond recognition, said Al-Arabiya correspondent Najwa Qassem. It could not be determined whether any of those bodies were of Al-Arabiya employees. However, she confirmed that one guard and one administration worker were among the dead.
A militant group calling itself the “1920 Brigades” claimed responsibility for the attack, blasting Al-Arabiya as “Americanized spies speaking in Arabic tongue” in a statement posted on a Web site. The station is owned by Saudi investors.
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