Four US marines were killed in western Iraq yesterday, the US military said today.
A statement said the four members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force had died on Saturday in Anbar province, which includes the restive Sunni Muslim towns of Falluja and Ramadi, while "conducting security and stability operations".
It did not say how they had been killed, but guerrilla attacks are frequent in the area where the marines operate.
The deaths brought to 656 the number of US military personnel killed in action since the start of last year's war in Iraq.