Two US occupation soldiers were killed while “conducting operations” in southern Iraq, taking the number of American troops killed in the war-torn country this month to eight.

Two US occupation soldiers were killed while “conducting operations” in southern Iraq, taking the number of American troops killed in the war-torn country this month to eight.

"Two US service members were killed yesterday while conducting operations in southern Iraq," the occupation military said in brief statement that gave no other details.

The latest deaths raise the number of American soldiers killed since the 2003 US-led invasion to 4,462, according to an AFP count based on the independent website, www.icasualties.org.

The US military still has about 45,000 occupation troops in Iraq. It formally ended combat operations on August 31.