Two US soldiers killed in Iraq clashes with IS: coalition

Two of the US military personnel were killed on Sunday in an attack on coalition forces battling the Islamic State group in Iraq, officials said.

The American soldiers were killed while accompanying Iraqi security forces in a mission to "eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq", the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve statement said.

The statement attributed their deaths to "enemy forces". It is unclear whether any Iraqi personnel were injured in the attack. The names of the service members were withheld pending next of kin notification, in accordance with US Department of Defence policy, the statement said.

The US maintains some 5,200 troops in Iraq on a mission to assist and provide training to Iraqi security forces in the fight against the IS.

There was no immediate comment from Iraqi officials.