Two US Marines killed in operations in western Iraq

BAGHDAD - Two US marines have been killed in fighting in western Iraq, bringing to 10 the number of American servicemen killed over the weekend, the US military said in a statement Monday.
The two marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) were killed in separate incidents on Sunday, the first in Al-Qaim, the second in Ubaydi, two areas close to the Syrian border.
US forces gave no details on how they were killed, but a major offensive was launched against insurgents in the area Sunday morning.
A total of 10 US servicemen died over the weekend in Iraq, bringing the total number of those who died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to 1,599, according to an AFP tally based on the latest Pentagon figures.

05/09/2005 17:45 GMT