Baghdad, May 14, SPA -- Four U.S. Marines have been killed infighting in western Iraq, the American military announcedSaturday, taking the number of U.S. personnel killed duringa weeklong operation against insurgents to nine. The four latest Marines to die were killed Wednesday whentheir troop transporter was struck by a bomb nearKarabilah, a village close to the Syrian border, duringOperation Matador, the Marines said in a statement. The Associated Press quoted the statement as saying Marines commanders estimate more than 100 insurgents and foreign fighters have been killed duringthe operation, which is aimed at allies of Jordanian-bornmilitant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. At least 1,617 members of the U.S. military have diedsince the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003,according to an Associated Press count.--SPA1200 Local Time 0900 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/262162