BAGHDAD, Feb 7: At least nine Iraqis died in rebel attacks on Tuesday amid a tight security clampdown ahead of Ashura. Additionally, the US military said four Marines were killed in two roadside bomb attacks in the western province of Al-Anbar on Sunday and Monday.

The latest fatalities bring the total US military death toll in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 2,255, according to Pentagon figures as of Monday.

Two Iraqis were killed when they were shot at by foreign contractors travelling in SUVs on the Arbil-Kirkuk road, a police officer from Kirkuk said. The Iraqis were also in a car.

Foreign contractors usually drive speedily on Iraqi roads and have been known to fire at passing vehicles that they think are driven suspiciously.

Three Iraqis were killed as they were gathered in central Baghdad to buy cassettes and CDs for Ashura.

Two roadside bombs went off within minutes. Five policemen who had arrived at the scene to investigate the first explosion were also wounded.

In a separate attack, two civilians died when their car hit a roadside bomb on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, while a civilian was killed and four policemen wounded when gunmen fired on them in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad.

Unidentified gunmen shot Sheikh Kamal Shakur, head of the city council of Fallujah, a town in Al-Anbar. He later died in hospital.

Three suspects have been arrested.

Sheikh Shakur, 54, who had good relations with the Marines, played a key role in US efforts to engage with the people of Fallujah.

All of Fallujah’s leaders have faced death threats due to their contacts with US forces. Prior to the assassination, leaflets from the “Lions of Islam” threatening to kill all those cooperating with US forces appeared at local mosques.

A few days before his assassination, Sheikh Shakur met with local tribal leaders and discussed the possibility of forming an army unit composed entirely of local recruits to provide security for the city.—AFP