Four Iraqi civilians die in roadside bomb blast

Militants targeted a US patrol with a roadside bomb today in the northern city of Mosul, killing four nearby civilians, while the US military reported that a Marine died in action in a strife-riven western province.

Hospital officials citing witnesses said insurgents hit a US patrol with a jerry-rigged bomb in a north-western neighbourhood of Mosul, damaging a Humvee as it crossed a bridge and killing four civilians in a car near the blast.