3 U.S. Troops Killed in Attacks

Two Marines and a soldier were killed Thursday in incidents north and west of the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military said early today.

Four Marines were injured in addition to the two who were killed during combat operations in Al Anbar province. That province includes the militant stronghold of Fallouja, which U.S. troops pounded Thursday with airstrikes and artillery ahead of an expected assault.

No details were given about how the Marines died.

The U.S. soldier was killed and another was wounded when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in Balad, north of Baghdad, the military said. The three deaths took the number of American dead in the conflict to at least 1,123.

Iraq’s continued violence and lack of security prompted the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders to announce that it was leaving the country. Another group, CARE International, withdrew from the country after its national director, Margaret Hassan, was kidnapped last month.

In Fallouja, mosque loudspeakers blared out Koranic verses and shouts of “Allahu akbar!” -- “God is great!” -- during the U.S. assault, residents said.

There were no immediate casualty reports.

Outside the nearby town of Ramadi, a suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. Marine convoy, but only the attacker died in the explosion, American officials said.

An Iraqi known for cooperating with Americans was killed near Ramadi, police said.

Assailants stopped a car carrying Sheik Bezei Ftaykhan, ordered the driver to leave and shot the sheik about 30 times, police said.

U.S. officials plan to use a mixed American and Iraqi force to storm Fallouja, 35 miles west of Baghdad, if interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gives the go-ahead.

U.S. officials say talks are still underway for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Fallouja, which worsened after Marines abandoned their three-week siege of the city last April, enabling Islamic militants to take control.

In preparation for the planned offensive, Iraqi authorities have put together a team of Iraqi administrators to run the city after the fighting, Marine Maj. Jim West said Thursday.

West said $75 million has been earmarked to rebuild the city.

The strategy is similar to one used when U.S. troops restored government authority in the holy Shiite Muslim city of Najaf in August after weeks of fighting with militiamen.

Elsewhere, an Iraqi national guard patrol was attacked with a car bomb in Iskandariya, about 30 miles south of Baghdad.

Iraqi hospital officials said three people were killed and 15 were wounded.

A suicide car bomber also killed three and wounded nine at city government offices in Dujail, north of the capital, police said.