Two U.S. Marines, Two Soldiers Reported Dead In Iraq

WASHINGTON, July 20 (AFP) - Two US marines and two US soldiers were officially reported dead Tuesday amid escalating clashes in Iraq's central Al-Anbar province that includes the town of Fallujah, a hotbed of the anti-American insurgency.
The US Central command said in two separate statements that two members of the First Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in action "while conducting security and stability operations" in the region.
No details have been provided.
The military also announced Tuesday the death of one Army soldier who was killed in action on Monday. Another Army soldier perished during the day of wounds received earlier, the command said.
Fallujah has been the target of recent US air strikes against suspected hideouts of al-Qaeda linked militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi that have killed scores of people.
The new deaths bring to 664 the number of US troops killed in action in Iraq since the start of the US-led war in March 2003 and to 896 the overall military death toll in the country, according to the latest Defense Department figures.