A roadside bomb blast in western Iraq has killed 14 U.S. Marines and their civilian interpreter.

U.S. officials say one Marine was wounded in the attack Wednesday just south of the town of Haditha, near the Syrian border.

Earlier this week, seven U.S. Marines were killed in separate attacks by insurgents in western Iraq.

Elsewhere, unknown assailants have shot and killed an American freelance journalist in the southern city of Basra.

The killing came days after Steven Vincent wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times that criticized British officials for allowing Shiite clerics to take control of Basra and populate the security forces with their followers.

The journalist was kidnapped Tuesday near a hotel in Basra and later killed. His translator survived.

Some information for this report provided by AP.