"With God's help, about 100 of the Omar battle lions laid an ambush Monday for the soldiers of Satan, the Americans, in Al-Saqlawiya region, west of Baghdad," said the statement signed by Tawhid wal Jihad's military wing.

"Thanks be to God, the toll was two helicopters down, including an MH-47 Chinook, and two Humvees destroyed with their occupants on board," it said on the site http://www.alezah.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=3267.

It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

The US military said earlier that three marines were fatally wounded in action Monday in the restive western province of Al-Anbar "while conducting security and stability operations".

WAR.WIRE