CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — Two 2nd Infantry Division soldiers were killed in Iraq on May 8, according to a Defense Department news release.

The soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt. Thor H. Ingraham, 24, of Murrysville, Pa., and Pfc. Nicolas E. Messmer, 20, of Franklin, Ohio.

Both served with 2nd ID’s 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, which left its base at Camp Greaves, South Korea, in August to deploy to Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (Strike Force).

According to the release, the soldiers were conducting combat operations in Khalidiyah when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee.

Khalidiyah is one of several volatile Iraqi towns patrolled by 2nd ID units near the larger city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

The Strike Force’s 3,500 soldiers are expected to move to Fort Carson, Colo., when their Iraq tour ends.

The latest deaths bring the total number of Strike Force soldiers killed in Iraq to 59, according to a Stars and Stripes tally.

As of Wednesday, at least 1,606 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

At least 1,229 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. That figure includes four military civilians.