2 Marines Killed in Western Province

Two Marines were killed in fighting Thursday in western Iraq’s Al Anbar province, and U.S. troops killed two militants at a checkpoint near Baghdad, the military reported.

The names of the Marines, who were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, were withheld by the military. They died in separate incidents, authorities said.

The incident near Baghdad came after three mini-buses carrying supporters of radical anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr allegedly fired on watchtowers at an American base 20 miles south of the capital in Mahmoudiya, the military said.

Iraqi police said the buses were bringing demonstrators to a massive rally to be held today in Baghdad to condemn Israel’s actions in Lebanon and support Hezbollah.

“American troops returned fire in self-defense,” Army Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said.

Iraqi police said about 15 people were injured. They said the buses had left the holy city of Najaf and were near Baghdad when several vehicles ignored checkpoint regulations near a U.S. camp and were fired upon by soldiers. The vehicles were festooned with pictures of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, and passengers chanted, “Death to America! Death to Israel!”

Iraqi and U.S. officials are concerned that Sadr, one of the nation’s leading religious figures and head of a militia, will attract as many as a million demonstrators to Baghdad.

In central Baghdad, a bomb fastened to a motorcycle exploded Thursday in a busy marketplace in Rusafi Square, killing 12 people and injuring 27.

Times staff writer Saif Hameed and a special correspondent in Baghdad contributed to this report.