Georgia says two soldiers killed in Iraq

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia said on Saturday that two of its soldiers had been killed in Iraq, its first fatalities since sending troops to the conflict in 2003.

"Two Georgian peacekeepers... died when their car ran over a mine in Iraq," Giga Tatishvili, deputy chief-of-staff of Georgian military forces, said in comments shown on television.

He said another soldier and a translator had been injured but gave no details of when the incident took place.

Georgian troops are in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. They have been deployed in and around Baghdad, patrol the area, take part in raids, man checkpoints and protect key infrastructure.

Georgia, which first sent its troops to Iraq in 2003, boosted the number of its troops to 2,000 from 850 last year.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Matthew Jones)