An attack on a convoy of the US 1st Marine Expeditionary Force wounded 20 people in western Iraq today, a Marine spokesman said.
He gave no details and it was not clear if the casualties were all Marines. Other units are attached to the 1st MEF.
The spokesman could not confirm media reports that a suicide car bomber had attacked a Marine convoy in the Sunni Muslim city of Ramadi, 110 k.m. west of Baghdad.
A police source in Ramadi said a car bomb had exploded near a US military convoy at 2 pm on the main road east from the city. The source said a truck carrying troops was damaged in the blast.
Hospital workers also said at least one Iraqi was killed and 14 wounded in clashes between insurgents and US forces in Ramadi. Rebels firing rocket-propelled grenades have been fighting US troops apparently trying to raid homes in the city since about 7 a.m. witnesses said.
The Marines are expected to spearhead a major offensive against insurgents in Ramadi and its sister city of Fallujah.