U.S. Marine Killed In Fighting West Of Baghdad

17 December 2004 -- The U.S. military says insurgents killed a U.S. Marine during fighting in the violent Anbar Province west of Baghdad.

The military said the attack took place Thursday while the Marine was conducting "security and stabilization" operations.

Anbar is a vast province covering much of western Iraq. It includes the cities of Al-Fallujah and Al-Ramadi, which are infiltrated with insurgents and where there has been near constant fighting for the past six weeks.

(Reuters/AP/AFP)

[For the latest news on Iraq, see RFE/RL's webpage on "The New Iraq".]