Two US Marines die in Iraq combat

Marines are preparing a major assault on Falluja

Two US Marines were killed and four hurt during fighting in Anbar province west of Baghdad, the US military says.

The military provided no other details about where and how the incident occurred on Thursday.

Anbar includes the restive city of Falluja. US and Iraqi government troops have threatened an assault on the city unless insurgents there surrender.

In raids in the early hours of Friday, US planes destroyed an arms cache in the city, the military said.

Black Watch

Forces have been positioned on the outskirts of the city for several weeks, and US planes have been carrying out regular bombing raids.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Washington say Falluja is hosting foreign fighters allied to al-Qaeda - an accusation denied by local leaders.

Many of Falluja's estimated 300,000 residents have already fled, reports say.

British troops from the Black Watch battalion - which recently left southern Iraq for deployment nearer Baghdad - are policing roads in the area in an effort to block supply routes to the rebels.

Black Watch commanders are reconsidering their tactics there after a suicide bomber killed three soldiers on Thursday. Eight other troops were wounded in the attack. An Iraqi interpreter also died in the incident.

The US said on Thursday that the Iraqi government was putting together a shadow administration to run Falluja once the fighting was over, the Associated Press news agency reported.