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Fallujah beseiged, 4 Marines dead.

U.S. troops battled Iraqi guerrillas Tuesday on the edges of Fallujah, which hundreds of Marines and Iraqi troops have surrounded in a major operation to pacify one of Iraq's most violent cities. The military reported four Marines killed in the area.

The Americans were killed by hostile fire Monday, bringing to five the number of Marines killed that day.

The military did not give details on the deaths, saying only that they took place in Anbar province, where Fallujah is located.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have sealed off the city for more than 24 hours, blocking roads and digging trenches in preparation to move in to root out insurgents after the slaying and brutal mutilation last week of four American civilians.
(via AP)

UPDATE More from a WaPo embedded reporter:

EMBEDDED WITH THE MARINES IN FALLUJAH, April 6--U.S. Marines are inside the flashpoint city of Fallujah in force. They have met significant pockets of resistance but have overpowered it, killing an undetermined number of enemy fighters and taking some prisoners.
(via WaPo)