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Vehicle bomb kills 20 south of Baghdad

Two U.S. Marines killed in Iraq helicopter crash

An AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter, such as the one in this file image, crashed Wednesday near Ramadi.

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• Moroccan accused of terrorism

• Rumsfeld hints at more troops

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Deadly violence coinciding with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan left 27 Iraqis dead Wednesday in Musayyib, Baghdad and Kirkuk.

Separately, two U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash near Ramadi, and a U.S. soldier died when his patrol came under attack near Balad.

Coalition warplanes in western Iraq, meanwhile, pounded safe houses and killed several insurgents near the Syrian border, where U.S. and Iraqi forces say militants are crossing into Iraq to conduct attacks.

The bloodshed occurred as candidates began campaigning for the December 15 parliamentary elections. U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned that militants will keep trying to derail the democratic process.

The worst attack occurred near a Shiite mosque and a busy shopping area in Musayyib, a town 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Baghdad in a region nicknamed the "Triangle of Death" because of insurgent activity and widespread lawlessness. The town is in the northern part of Babil province.

At least 20 people were killed and 60 others were wounded in a suicide vehicle bombing, a police official said. A minibus detonated in an area bustling with people buying clothes and food for Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, police said. Among the casualties were women and children.

Last month, police said 12 construction workers were killed near Musayyib when gunmen opened fire on them, and in July a suicide bombing near a parked fuel tanker and a gas station in the center of the town killed more than 90 people and wounded scores of others. (Full story)

In Kirkuk, a tense and ethnically diverse city comprising Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens, a car bombing killed two people and wounded seven others, all Iraqis, the police chief there told CNN.

The incident occurred during the afternoon in a Kirkuk business district. Two of the injured were women.

In Baghdad, roadside bombs Wednesday morning killed at least five people and wounded eight others, Iraqi emergency police said.

Police also reported the Tuesday evening shooting deaths in the capital of a colonel with the Interior Ministry and a commando. Three police officers were wounded in the attack. (Watch: Homemade bombs get more sophisticated -- 2:26)

In and around Husayba, near the Syrian border, coalition forces conducted air strikes against three suspected al Qaeda in Iraq safe houses.

The military said unspecified sources reported that Abu Asim -- a senior foreign fighter for al Qaeda in Iraq -- was killed in one of the safe houses. It said the sources reported that Asim had contacts in Syria who arranged the smuggling of foreign fighters and suicide bombers into the Husayba region.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have been launching raids and offensives for months against insurgents in the area. On October 23, the military said 20 al Qaeda in Iraq fighters were killed in two raids in Husayba. (Full story)

Air strikes follow copter crash

The Marines said two pilots died Wednesday morning in a helicopter crash outside Ramadi, and a warplane hours later pounded an insurgent base near the crash site with two 500-pound bombs. (Watch: U.S. forces move to recover the bodies -- 2:05)

Marines do not know what caused the crash of the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter gunship, commonly used as air support and escort for ground troops.

Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Baghdad. The Marines recently increased their numbers in the Sunni Arab-dominated province.

"The air strike against the building was related to the crash of the helicopter," a Marine spokesman said.

Also on Wednesday, a U.S. soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division died when his patrol was attacked near Balad, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, the military said. Another soldier was wounded.

The military said one of the two attackers was killed after he threw a hand grenade at the patrol, while the other fled into a building and continued to engage the soldiers with small arms fire. Air Force aircraft dropped two bombs at the site, killing the second attacker, the military said.

A Task Force Baghdad soldier also was killed Wednesday when a patrol struck an improvised explosive device south of Baghdad, the military said. The incident was being investigated, it said.

With those deaths, the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war reached 2,033. That total includes the Tuesday deaths of a Marine and a sailor reported Wednesday by the U.S. military.

They were killed by roadside bomb Tuesday in Ramadi, the military said.

Other developments

Days before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein agreed in principle to accept an offer of exile from the United Arab Emirates, but the Iraqi president's conditions were not met and the proposal went nowhere, a UAE government senior official told CNN. (Full story)

The Iraq Defense Ministry has issued a call for junior officers from the old Iraqi army to join the new military, part of an effort to bolster the country's forces. The recruitment applies to people who held officer ranks of major, captain, first lieutenant and lieutenant. According to a recent U.S. Pentagon report to Congress, about 86,900 people were in the Iraqi army as of September 19.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld indicated that the number of American forces in Iraq could rise temporarily as Iraqis prepare to vote in mid-December parliamentary elections, according to The Associated Press. (Full story)

Angry words rang out Tuesday on Capitol Hill as Democrats forced the Senate into a temporary closed session to pressure the Republican majority into completing an investigation of the intelligence underpinning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (Full story)

CNN's Ingrid Formanek, Cal Perry, Aneesh Raman, Barbara Starr and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

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