U.S. and British soldiers die during training in Iraq

A U.S. Army soldier and a British servicemember died Sunday during a joint training exercise at Erbil Air Base in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, according to U.S. and British military officials.

U.S. Army Central and Third Army announced the death of the American soldier late Monday, stating the incident occurred during a military training accident. Britain's Ministry of Defense separately confirmed that one of its service members was killed in a training accident in northern Iraq on the same day.

"The training was conducted with our British Army partners who also lost a soldier," U.S. officials said in a statement. "The incident is under investigation."

The U.S. Army said the identity of the deceased soldier would be withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notifications are completed. The British Defense Ministry said the family of the British service member has been notified and requested "a period of grace before further details are released."

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends at this sad time," the British Defense Ministry said.

Neither the U.S. nor British military provided additional details about the circumstances of the fatal incident. The deaths occurred at an air base where the U.S. has maintained a military presence in Iraq.