Deaths of two U.S. soldiers reported in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An American soldier was killed Thursday when his armored personnel carrier hit a land mine on the dangerous road from central Baghdad to the city's airport.

It was the second death reported Thursday by the U.S. military, after a soldier was killed in a small-arms fire attack northeast of Baghdad late Wednesday.

Three U.S. soldiers also were wounded when the mine exploded underneath an M113 armored personnel carrier, the U.S. military said in Baghdad.

The deaths brought to 51 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. So far, 166 American forces have been killed in the Iraq war, 19 more than in the 1991 Gulf War.

The assault late Wednesday against soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division happened 25 miles east of Baqouba, where U.S. troops have come under repeated assault recently, especially by mortar fire.

The town is in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," a heavily Sunni Muslim area to the north and west of Baghdad where support for ousted dictator Saddam Hussein has been strongest and where U.S. forces have faced the most resistance.

The deaths broke a period of relative peace. No U.S. soldier had been reported killed in combat in Iraq in more than 48 hours.