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<> LA VOZ DE AZTLAN NEWS BULLETIN <>
<><> Los Angeles, Alta California <><>

January 26, 2005

Bloodiest day for US Marines in Iraq

The US Marine occupation forces in Iraq have suffered their bloodiest day since their invasion on March 2003.

Thirty one (31) US Marines were killed in western Iraq this morning when their helicopter crashed. It is not clear if the CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter was downed by Iraqi insurgent fire. All 31 marines were from Camp Pendleton in Southern California.

In a second attack, four (4) US Marines were killed when their convoy was ambushed in the western province of Al-Anbar. The convoy had left the town of Haditha and was on the deadly road between Baghdad, and the airport when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The total of thirty five (35) US Marines killed today makes it the deadliest single-day of the Iraq War. The total number of US casualties in Iraq is now 1,416.

The previous single deadliest incident for U.S. troops also involved a helicopter crash. On November 2004 two Black Hawk helicopters crashed killing 17 US soldiers. In addition, during the same month, a Chinook helicopter was shot down by a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile near Fallujah, killing 16 US soldiers and wounding 26. The U.S. military has lost at least 33 helicopters since the start of the war. Twenty six (26) of these have been brought down by insurgent fire.