BRUSSELS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two Iraqis were killed by Dutch soldiers in southern Iraqi city of A-Samawah on Thursday night, the Dutch Defense Ministry said Friday.

    The two Iraqis opened fire from a car on a Dutch patrol at about 11.45 p.m. local time. The soldiers returned fire and killedboth men, and there were no injuries on the Dutch side, a spokesperson for the Dutch Defense Ministry said.

    Last week, a Dutch soldier was killed when his patrol came under fire.

    The Netherlands sent around 1,300 soldiers to Iraq and they will stay in the war-torn country till March 2005. Enditem