Three US soldiers killed in Iraq's Anbar province

BAGHDAD, Feb 23 (Reuters) Three US soldiers were killed in combat yesterday in Iraq's volatile western Anbar province, the US military said in a statement today.

It gave no details of the incident, but Anbar is the main stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents fighting US forces and the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. It is the deadliest region in Iraq for American troops.

US President George W Bush is sending some 4,000 more troops to the province to bolster efforts there to crush the unrelenting insurgency.

Yesterday's deaths brought to 3,154 the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. Seventy soldiers have died so far this month.

REUTERS BDP RAI2015