Baghdad, June 18: Two US soldiers guarding a filling station in southern Baghdad were killed in a hand grenade attack today. An Iraqi policeman confirmed that the two soldiers were dead.

A number of US military vehicles and a helicopter arrived at the scene and removed the bodies, he said, adding that the attackers fled.

A press photographer was then detained by US forces who held his press pass and confiscated his camera, preventing him from taking photographs of the scene for one hour.

A US army spokesman was unable to immediately confirm the report.

The attack occurred in Dura, on the southern fringes of the Iraqi capital, near the city's main oil-fired power plant.

If confirmed by the US military, it will bring to 52 the number of US troops killed since President George W Bush declared the war in Iraq effectively over on May 1, according to a count from US military statements.

Sixteen of those were killed in attacks and the rest in accidents.

Bureau Report