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BAGHDAD – A bomb hit a motorcade carrying Iraqs first lady through Baghdad on Sunday, while the U.S. military said a roadside explosion killed four Marines in the deadliest attack in western Anbar province in months.
The motorcade bombing in Baghdads Karrada district injured four of Hiro Ibrahim Ahmeds bodyguards but left her unharmed, according to the office of her husband, President Jalal Talabani.
She was headed to the citys central National Theater to attend a cultural festival when the attack occurred just before noon, said the presidential office. It was unclear if she was the target or if the bombing was random.
The four Marines were killed in Anbar province on Friday, but no other details of the incident were released.
Anbar was once a stronghold for insurgents battling against U.S. forces. But in the past year the vast desert province has largely been calmed with the rise of the Awakening Council movement – Sunni fighters who now turn their guns on al-Qaida instead of U.S. forces.
Fridays attack was the most lethal in the province since Sept. 6, when four Marines were killed in combat. The military did not release details of those deaths either.
On April 22, two Marines were killed in Anbar when a bomb-rigged truck exploded at a checkpoint in the city of Ramadi.
Despite new reports of violence, military spokesman Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll told reporters on Saturday that attacks carried out by al-Qaida declined last month after increasing earlier this year.
He said there was “no place for al-Qaida” to hide in Iraq and U.S. troops were continuing to hunt them down in Diyala province and the city of Mosul, where many are believed to have fled north from Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Iraqi health officials said at least 10 people – including two children – were killed in the past 24 hours in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people and a stronghold for the Mahdi Army militia led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Officials at two hospitals in Sadr City spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling militia members there for weeks