 One insurgent sniper had used the fourth story of the Ramadi General Hospital to kill a number of Marines before he was counter-sniped by a Marine Sniper from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines.At the beginning of July, a combined Marine, Naval Special Warfare, and Iraqi Force, supported by the U.S. Army, managed to push deep enough into the city to reach the Ramadi General Hospital, and it was captured by the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment on 5 July 2006.The Marines reported through verified evidence that members of al-Qaeda in Iraq had been using the seven-story building, which was equipped with some 250 beds, to treat their wounded and fire on U.S. troops in the area.