Bombs kill US Marines, civillians in Iraq

June 10, 2005

In a statement issued Friday evening, United States Marine officials said five Marines had been killed in a roadside blast in Western Iraq.

The Marines were killed as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations with 2nd Marine Division, Expeditionary Force, in Haqlaniyah, Iraq.

The attack itself came hours after reports that up to 17 bodies had been found in the same province. Reports say that the bodies were killed "execution style" and were near Anbar.

In Baghdad, up to three Iraqi civilians were killed and several others were wounded in a car bomb blast, that exploded near a busy marketplace in the mainly Shia district of Shula.

Department of Defense officials identified the Marines to be Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Birch, 22, of Saint Anthony, Idaho; Lance Cpl. Daniel Chavez, 20, of Seattle, Wash; Lance Cpl. Thomas O. Keeling, 23, of Strongsville, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Devon P. Seymour, 21, of St. Louisville, Ohio; and Cpl. Brad D. Squires, 26, of Middleburg Heights, Ohio.