WASHINGTON - US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Wednesday announced that US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will have their deployment extended from 12 months to 15.
"Effective immediately, active army units now in the Central Command area (Iraq and Afghanistan) and those headed there will deploy for not more than 15 months and will return home to home station for not less than 12 months," said Gates.
Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad
Two more US soldiers have been killed in Baghdad, the US military reported Wednesday, taking its losses to 34 this month alone.
A roadside bomb killed one US soldier and wounded two others on Wednesday when their patrol was attacked, the military reported.
Another soldier was killed and one more wounded when their patrol also came under attack in a southern district of Baghdad on Tuesday.
The latest fatalities brought the military`s losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,282, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.