Blasts killed six Marines in western Iraq, the US military said Friday. Two Marines died Thursday by a roadside bomb that hit their patrol outside the town of Qaem, near the Syrian border, the military said. Four other Marines were killed Thursday by a roadside bomb in Karmah, near the town of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
Meanwhile, American forces have killed at least 29 fighters in western Iraq clashes over the past 36 hours, a US military statement claimed on Friday morning. 
Warplanes killed 20 when they bombed an abandoned hotel in Husaybah, near the Syrian border, which had been taken over by fighters loyal to al-Qaeda in Iraq, the statement said, according to AFP. Aircraft late on Wednesday dropped four precision guided bombs on the three storey hotel which, according to the American army military, was used for launching attacks and storing weapons.
On Thursday, a M1-A1 Abrams tank killed two fighters in nearby Karabilah, in the Euphrates Valley.
And in another air raid, three buildings were demolished and seven fighters killed east of Karabilah after they opened fire on approaching marines, the statement added.
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