IRAQ Developments

The latest developments in Iraq:

The U.S. military announced Friday the deaths of two more U.S. service members — a Marine and an Army soldier. They were killed Wednesday during fighting in Anbar province, the Sunni Arab stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said. That brought the total U.S. troop deaths in Iraq to at least 79 this month, one more than in July, which was the lowest monthly figure this year.

The U.S. military said Friday that Marines from the 5th Regimental Combat Team killed 12 suspected al-Qaida in Iraq fighters and destroyed two vehicles in fighting Wednesday near Fallujah. Marine AV-8B Harrier jets dropped two precision-guided bombs, and Marines also called in artillery strikes against the insurgents during the battle, the military said.

Iraqi police responded with an iron fist Friday to the violence that threw the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala into chaos earlier this week, arresting more than 300 people in a show of force against Shiite militias. Iraqi officials say Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the arrests, a possible indication that al-Maliki, a Shiite who’s under intense international pressure to reconcile political rifts between Sunni Muslims and Shiites, intends to crack down on the Mahdi Army.

Source: Combined dispatches