Pentagon confirms 2 U.S. marines killed in Iraq

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that two marines were killed in Iraq over the weekend.

The pair, assigned to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, were killed while supporting Iraqi Security Forces in north-central Iraq, said the Pentagon in a statement, adding that the incident is under investigation.

According to a separate statement issued by the Operation Inherent Resolve, the two marines were killed by enemy forces during a mission to eliminate an Islamic State (IS) terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north-central Iraq.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces against extremist IS militants.

Earlier this year, the Iraqi Parliament voted to end the presence of all foreign troops in Iraq. The vote represented a rebuke of the United States over its airstrike on Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.