Two US soldiers were killed and six wounded in an explosion as they tried to dispose of weaponry in northern Iraq on Monday, a US military official said.
US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters the blast at Sinjar, 120 kilometres west of the main northern city of Mosul, did not appear to involve hostile action.
"We have reports that two US soldiers were killed in action, and six wounded in the vicinity of Sinjar while conducting ordnance disposal operations," said Kimmitt, the deputy director of coalition military operations.
The latest US military deaths take to more than 530 the number of American soldiers killed in combat, by accident or suicide since the US-led invasion of Iraq last March.