A U.S. soldier has been killed in action south of Baghdad in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force operating area, the U.S. Army said on Friday.

An army spokeswoman said the soldier was killed on Thursday but had no further details. The death brought to 64 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since the start of May.

The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is based in a mainly Shi'ite Muslim area south of Baghdad that includes the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala.

The spokeswoman said a soldier from the U.S. 1st Armored Division had also died in Baghdad, but it was not clear if the death was the result of hostile action.

U.S. officers say loyalists of ousted President Saddam Hussein and some foreign Muslim fundamentalists are behind the wave of attacks on occupying troops in Iraq.

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