Centcom reports

314 individuals have been detained in Mosul since Jan 5, 2005 and numerous weapons caches have been confiscated and destroyed.

A Marine transport helicopter has crashed in western Iraq. Reader Bill Bright reports that 31 Marines have died in the crash. The cause of the crash is not yet known.

AP has picked up the story and also reports five other US military dead in separate incidents.

A Marine transport helicopter crashed during sandstorms in Iraq (news - web sites)'s western desert Wednesday, killing 31 troops, while insurgents killed five other American military personnel in the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the Iraq war began.

Today is a very bad day for the Marines.

UPDATE: Eight Iraqis were rescued when US troops apparently interrupted a kidnapping in progress. Five suspects were detained and a number of weapons were confiscated.

UPDATE 2: In an ironic twist of fate, one of the Marines killed in the helicopter crash today was from Texas, and his father was a door gunner on choppers in Vietnam.

UPDATE 3: Correction — there were 30 Marines and one sailor killed in the helicopter crash, not 31 Marines as I previously reported.