Two US Marines were killed overnight in Fallujah, marking the first
casualties in a major offensive to retake the restive Iraqi city, the US
military said Monday.
The two Marines drowned when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates
River, the military said.
Their bodies were discovered at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) in the river, it added.
US troops and Iraqi special forces stormed into the western districts of
Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, early Monday and seized the main city hospital
and two key bridges over the Euphrates River.
Loud speakers of mosques in Fallujah blared out on Monday that the fighters
inside the city had captured 35 US soldiers, but the news could not be
independently confirmed.
On Sunday, the interim Iraqi government declared a state of emergency for 60
days in most parts of the country in preparation for an all-out assault on
insurgents in Fallujah.
The government led by Iyad Allawi was trying to restore order sothat Iraq
could hold national elections as scheduled by January.
