Iraq: 2 US troops killed in fighting in separate attacks in Iraq, military says

BAGHDAD: Two U.S. troops were killed in fighting in separate attacks this weekend in Iraq, the military said Monday.

A Marine assigned to Multi-National Force — West was killed Saturday while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, according to a statement.

The vast desert area has been relatively calm in recent months as Sunni tribal leaders joined forces with the U.S. against the terror network, but violence persists. Two suicide attacks struck targets in Ramadi and near Fallujah over the weekend.

A roadside bomb killed a Multi-National Division — Center soldier in Arab Jabour on Saturday, the military said separately. The rural area south of Baghdad is an al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold that has been the target of several military operations and airstrikes.

The deaths raised to at least 3,929 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.