BAGHDAD, Iraq – Four U.S. Marines were killed in a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, and pressure mounted in parliament Sunday to replace the interior minister because of the security crisis in the capital.
Also Sunday, a U.S. F-16 jet dropped two precision-guided bombs on a building near Baghdad used by militants affiliated with a group believed responsible a mortar-and-rocket attack in Baghdad’s mostly Shiite district of Karradah last week that killed at least 31 people, U.S. officials said.
Two militants and a child were killed in the airstrike, and four suspects were arrested, the United States said. American officials expressed regret about the child’s death and said “terrorists continue to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence.”
The Marines, from Regimental Combat Team 7, died Saturday in Anbar province, the heavily Sunni Arab region west of Baghdad that includes such flashpoints as Ramadi and Haditha, a U.S. statement said without further details.
So far this month, 44 U.S. service members have died in Iraq – including 10 in Anbar province during the past week.
The U.S. command is moving 3,700 troops from Mosul to Baghdad to cope with the crisis in the capital, raising concern that violence could flare up again in that northern city as American forces scale back.
With violence on the rise, several key Iraqi parliament members are pressing to replace Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, who is responsible for police and paramilitary commandos.
Bassem Sharif, a lawmaker from a Shiite party, confirmed there were moves under way to demand changes in the Cabinet, including the Interior Ministry.
“The structure of the Interior Ministry is not right – unmarked cars, no checkpoints formed yet … So far they have done nothing,” Sharif said. “There are only excuses.”
Al-Bolani, a Shiite, was chosen for the post after protracted negotiations among the various religious and ethnic parties within the national unity government. Al-Bolani, 46, got the job despite no background in security or high-level administration. He was an engineer with the Iraqi air force until 1999.
In a speech to parliament Sunday, al-Bolani acknowledged that “disloyal and corrupt elements” had infiltrated the police and government.
“We will not allow any act of violence and sectarianism inside the ministry,” he told parliament. “Our country faces a big confrontation and challenges. We will fight kidnapping, terrorism and killing. We will dismiss those who do not respect the law.”
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