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Marines Kill 2 Assailants in Kuwait

KUWAIT (AP) - Two U.S. Marines were attacked during war games in Kuwait Tuesday and returned fire, killing their two assailants, a Pentagon (news - web sites) spokesman said.

"They were fired upon by unknown assailants," said spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, adding that it appeared the assailants were civilians.

No information was immediately available on the condition of the Marines, but a Kuwait military official said the Marines were injured.

Ministry of Defense spokesman Brig. Ahmed al-Rahmani said he could not immediately name or provide the nationalities of the two dead. He said the two injured Americans, who were not named, were in stable condition.

"It was an incident. An investigation is ongoing," al-Rahmani said.

He said the shooting occurred on Failaka Island off Kuwait's coast.

About 1,900 U.S. Marines and Navy sailors are taking part in a ground, air and naval training exercise with the Kuwaiti military.

Washington has said the games, dubbed Eager Mace 2002, are routine and not related to any possible war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Kuwait has said it opposed any unilateral military action against Iraq. However, it has said it will allow U.S. forces to use its land for an attack if the war is sanctioned by the United Nations (news - web sites).

The two-week war games began Oct. 1 after the amphibious transport ships USS Mount Vernon and the USS Denver arrived in Kuwait waters and started unloading 1,000 Marines and their equipment. The men and women are from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Camp Pendleton, Calif., The vessels' 900 sailors were also participating in the maneuvers.

American and Kuwaiti forces have been training together since the end of the U.S.-led Gulf War (news - web sites) that liberated the small oil-rich state from a seven-month Iraqi occupation. A Kuwaiti-U.S. defense pact signed after the war calls for annual exercises.

Camp Doha, an isolated U.S. Army base along the Gulf coast about 12 miles west of Kuwait City, contains pre-positioned equipment for a brigade including M-1 A-1 Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and artillery. Typically, a battalion force is deployed at Camp Doha, including soldiers based there and troops who come through regularly for training.

The U.S. Air Force uses two Kuwaiti bases, Ali Salem air base about 43 miles northwest of Kuwait City, and Ahmed Al Jaber air base, 47 miles west of the capital.

****The radio just announced that one Marine was killed.****

"****The radio just announced that one Marine was killed.**** "

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