Five American marines killed,

The American army said on Friday that five of the marine troops were killed in an explosion in the west of Iraq.

The American forces explained that the five American mariners were killed on Thursday in clashes in al-Haqlaneyah in al-Anbar governorate.

On the other hand, the American army on Friday opened a criminal investigation in an explosion in which two American soldiers were killed in a base near Tikrit to the north of Baghdad, after it was discovered that their death was not a result of a mortar shelling attack.

Menatime, the Iraqi police announced on Friday that gunmen killed the director of corruption-fighting col. Raheem Othman and his assistant Ghanem Jabbar in Karkouk in the north of Iraq. Al-Miqdad police commander said that gunmen riding a car opened fire at the Othman's car he was in with his assistant.

The police commander of Karkouk Lt. Gen. Tourhan Youssef said he escaped an assassination attempt on Friday after he was targeted by unidentified sniper, adding that his car was damaged.

In al-Basra ( 550 km to the south of Baghdad), a source in the police said that two unidentified gunmen killed col. Abdul Karim al-Daraji and his brother Qusai in the downtown of the city. Witnesses said that the two killed men were in civilian uniform when four gunmen stopped before their car and opened fire at them.