Baghdad  - At least three US marines and two interpreters were killed in a suicide bombing in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a US military statement said Friday.

Three West Marines forces and two interpreters were killed in the attack, which targeted a meeting of clan chiefs and tribal leaders in the town of Karma in the western province of Anbar on Thursday, the statement said.

The deaths pushed the number of US troops killed since June to 29, while 4,113 US forces have been killed since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

At least 20 people were killed when the suicide attacker blew himself up while the council was meeting. The attacker managed to enter through an unguarded gate, al-Arabiya news channel said.

Senior local officials and clan chiefs were reported to be among those killed.

The US military will delay the handover of security responsibilities in Anbar province due to the explosion and bad weather forecasts, al-Iraqiya state television said on Thursday.

The province is scheduled to become the first Sunni province to be transferred to Iraqi security control on Saturday.

It will be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces to revert to Iraqi control. The previous nine have been Kurdish or Shiite. (dpa)