BAGHDAD, Aug 27: Two US soldiers were killed and seven wounded in three separate attacks in Baghdad and to the west of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday.

“One Third Armoured Cavalry Regiment soldier was killed and three were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack in Fallujah,” the Central Command said in a statement.

The flashpoint town of Fallujah, where US soldiers have repeatedly come under attack, is located some 60kms west of Baghdad.

On the other fatal incident, Centcom said “one 205th Military Intelligence Brigade soldier was killed in an attack on a military convoy in Baghdad”.

In a subsequent statement, Centcom said that attack too was carried out with an improvised explosive device.

Apart from the serviceman who lost his life, two soldiers were wounded, it said.

In Ramadi, another battleground between US troops and guerillas 100kms west of Baghdad, two soldiers were wounded on Wednesday, again by an improvised explosive device, said Captain Michael Calvert of the Third Armoured Cavalry Regiment.

Two vehicles were hit by rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in the centre of Ramadi, said witness Yussef Yakub.

As the two transport vehicles passed through town, a mine exploded, separating them when they were hit by RPGs, causing major damage, said the witness.

The latest deaths take to 64 the number of US soldiers killed in attacks in Iraq since President George Bush declared major combat operations over on May 1.

Another 77 have died in accidents or other circumstances unrelated to combat in this period, according to an official tally released by the Pentagon on Tuesday. —AFP