Four U.S. Marines Killed In Iraq, Dozens Of Iraqis Abducted

(RFE/RL) June 22, 2006 -- The U.S. military says four Marines have been killed in Iraq's western Al-Anbar Governorate.

A statement says three of them died on June 20 when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb. The fourth died the same day after being attacked while conducting security operations.

Meanwhile, reports say gunmen on June 21 abducted as many as 80 Iraqi factory workers as they were being ferried home after work in a fleet of buses just north of Baghdad. Reuters, citing an unnamed Iraqi official, puts the number of those kidnapped at 30.

Police sources say five busloads of employees of the state-owned Great Victory factory at Taji were commandeered by dozens of gunmen in at least five cars.

(Reuters, AFP)