The US military said Friday seven of its soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

Four US marines were killed Thursday during combat operations in the volatile province of Anbar in western Iraq, a military statement said.

Earlier, the military said that three more soldiers were killed Thursday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in the northern province of Nineveh.

The names of the killed soldiers were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, the statements said.

The latest deaths bring the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq to about 3,760 since the outbreak of the Iraqi war in 2003, according to estimate by media based on Pentagon figures.