Seven more US troops have been killed in action in Iraq, their headquarters said on Monday, bringing the number of American troops to have died this month to 57.
A statement from the US-led coalition in Iraq said that two marines from Regimental Combat Team 5, which is based in Fallujah in western Iraq, died on Sunday following unspecified "enemy action".
Another statement said that an army soldier "was killed at approximately 10:45 p.m. (1945 GMT) on Sunday when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device north of Baghdad."
And two more soldiers were killed and two others wounded on Sunday "as a result of enemy action while conducting operations in Kirkuk province", it said.
Another two soldiers from the same Task Force Lightning died in the central Salaheddin province of wounds sustained in fighting.
The deaths bring the number of US military personnel to have died in the Iraq campaign since the March 2003 invasion to 2,766, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.