Five Female Marines Feared Dead

Five Female Marines Feared Dead
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June 24, 2005
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(snip)

CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports that five female Marines are said to be dead, according to officials. They are members of a supply unit who were being driven into Fallujah to assist in searching local women for hidden weapons when their vehicle, which was equipped with armor, was struck by the bomber.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said another 13 Marines were wounded in the Thursday night attack and said some women were among the casualties.

The car bomber targeted troops assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force, an earlier military statement said. Fallujah, the Anbar province town 40 miles west of Baghdad, was the scene of a large-scale campaign in November by U.S. troops to rout militants.

An earlier report also had said six Marines were killed.

At least 1,730 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.