Four Marines killed in Western Iraq

Four US Marines assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force have been killed while on duty in Western Iraq.

Four US Marines assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force have been killed while on duty in Western Iraq.

The Marines were killed in action in the Anbar province, a volatile Sunni Muslim-dominated region of Iraq extending from the outskirts of Baghdad to the borders of Syria and Jordan.

A total 868 US service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year.

Meanwhile, four mortar rounds exploded in central Baghdad today near the political party headquarters of Iraq's new interim prime minister Wednesday. Six people were reportedly injured.

The attacks on a stretch of Zeitoun Street also hit near a home owned by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

The attacks came only hours before he was set to unveil a long-anticipated law giving him the authority to impose emergency measures to safeguard the country's security.

The new law gives Iraqi officials the ability to institute martial law for limited periods of time and under special circumstances.