What’s the US troop casualty?

The US military wrapped up a major offensive in a remote desert region near the Syrian border Saturday, saying it had cleaned out the insurgent haven and killed more than 125 militants during the weeklong campaign against followers of Iraq’s most wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
   Nine U. S. Marines were killed and 40 injured during Operation Matador--one of the largest American campaigns since militants were driven from Fallujah six months ago. The number of civilian casualties was not immediately known.
   American troops, backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships , swept through desert outposts along ancient smuggling mutes, believed to be staging areas for foreign fighters who slip over the bonier and collect weapons to launch deadly attacks in Iraq’s major dries.