Baghdad  - The US military said Wednesday that two of its troops have been killed in separate attacks in Iraq while security responsibilities in the southern Diwaniyah province have been handed over by the multinational forces to the local authorities.

A military statement said a marine died of wounds suffered in an operation in the western Anbar province on July 14.

Another soldier was killed by a bomb rigged in a house during an operation in Diyala province in central Iraq on July 15.

The two fatalities bring to six the number of US troops killed in Iraq in July, and the number killed since the 2003 invasion to 4,121.

Last month, the US military delayed indefinitely the handover of security responsibilities in Anbar, once the stronghold of Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda fighters.

A recent surge in violence in the province is threatening the shaky stability of the past two years.

In the southern Diwaniyah province, the US-led multinational forces have handed over security tasks to the local authorities in a formal ceremony held Wednesday.

The handover had been scheduled for June 30 but been delayed for nearly two weeks during which a series of security sweeps and operations targeting Shiite militias were conducted. (dpa)