Baghdad, January 03: Two US soldiers have been killed in central Iraq to become Washington’s first fatalities in the violence-wracked country in 2011.
“Two US service members were killed in central Iraq Sunday night,” AFP quoted a Monday statement from the US military as saying.
“This was one incident resulting in the death of two US service members. These are the first deaths of any US service member in 2011,” a spokeswoman for the military said.
She declined further details about the identity of the soldiers and how they were killed.
In August 2010, the US declared an end to its combat mandate in Iraq but left 50,000 of its troops in the country to “advise and train” Iraqi security forces before they are withdrawn by the end of 2011.
The United States and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003, citing concerns over alleged weapons of mass destruction the executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein wielded.
Years after the US-led invasion, no such weapons have been discovered.
——–Agencies