Six U.S. Marines killed in western Iraq

Six American Marines were killed on Tuesday in action in western Iraq, the U.S. command announced.

The Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team-2 of the 2nd Marine Division, died Monday in Haditha, 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad. No further details were released, but insurgents posted handbills in Haditha claiming to have killed 10 U.S. troops, seizing some of their weapons.

In addition, another Marine died Monday in a car bomb in Hit, 80 kilometers southeast of Haditha in the volatile Euphrates River valley, the AP reports.