Five Marines and a sailor died Friday when a massive car bomb detonated near their convoy in Fallujah, Iraq, U.S. Central Command reports.
Thirteen others were wounded. Female troops were among both the wounded and the dead.
Groups of female Marines are often used as "lioness teams" to search female Iraqis and to corral and search children at vehicle checkpoints and during raids on buildings. Cultural sensitivities prevent male U.S. troops from touching Iraqi women.
The Marines were assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force which is stationed in violent Anbar province.
Three Marines and a sailor believed to be in the vehicle are currently listed as "Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown" pending a positive identification, Central Command said.
At least 1,729 U.S. personnel have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, 1,333 of them killed in action. All but 109 of the total KIA deaths occurred after U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
