2 U.S. soldiers die in separate incidents

LOS ANGELES TIMES

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military said Friday that two American soldiers had died in separate incidents, but despite the latest deaths, December was shaping up to be the safest month for U.S. forces in Iraq since 2004.

The military gave few details of the most recent casualties. Both occurred Thursday. One soldier died of wounds suffered when a bomb exploded during a foot patrol; another was killed by gunfire in the capital, the U.S. military said.

In the first two weeks of November, 23 American forces had been killed, compared with 10 in December, according to the Department of Defense and www.icasualties.org.

A total of 3,891 American troops have died since the war began in March 2003.