U.S., Dutch Report 2 Iraq Troop Deaths

The U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that a service member attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force operating in and near Fallouja, Iraq, was killed in action, and Dutch authorities have announced the first death in Iraq among their 1,300 troops.

More than 770 U.S. service members have died since the war began in March 2003.

The statement on the Central Command website gave few details of Monday’s death and did not identify the member pending notification of relatives.

Authorities said the incident occurred during a patrol in Al Anbar province, which is a stronghold of support for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and includes Fallouja. Marines fought guerrillas in the city throughout April before allowing Iraqi commanders to assume responsibility for the area under Marine direction.

In Amsterdam, meanwhile, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the Netherlands was reviewing its participation in the U.S.-led stabilization force in Iraq after a Dutch soldier was killed in a grenade attack.

Balkenende said the death of the soldier Monday in southern Iraq was not by itself a reason to leave the country.

“Reconstruction will go on, with all the sorrow of today. The forces of terrorism will not win,” he said on national television.

But the Dutch will weigh their future deployment based on an expanded role for the United Nations, and he said a new U.N. Security Council resolution would be “desirable.”

“When we talk about extending the stay of our troops in Iraq, we will examine the involvement of the United Nations. A resolution would lend greater legitimacy to foreign troops,” he said.

The Defense Ministry said assailants on a scooter hurled a grenade at four Dutch soldiers patrolling in Samawah. Two were hurt and taken to a field hospital, where one later died.

Balkenende said the arrest of two suspects in the attack by Iraqi police showed that the majority of local Iraqis supported the presence of Dutch troops.