Two SAS soldiers have died after a car accident in Iraq, the BBC has learned.
Major James Stenner, of the Welsh Guards, and Sergeant Norman Patterson, from the Cheshire Regiment, died in the accident in Baghdad early on 1 January.
Their vehicle is believed to have struck a concrete barrier forming part of a security chicane.
The incident brings the number of British deaths since the beginning of hostilities last March to 55.
The MoD will not confirm or deny whether the men were special forces members, but the BBC has learned they were in the SAS.
Neither of their parent regiments, the Cheshire Regiment and the Welsh Guards, are currently on operations in Iraq.
The MoD will not release photographs of the dead men, nor will it reveal what they were doing in Baghdad.
The vast majority of the British soldiers in Iraq serve in the south of the country, particularly in and around Basra.
Major Stenner, 30, from Monmouthshire, was married, and Sergeant Patterson, 28, from Staffordshire, was single.
An MoD spokesman said the men had died in a "straightforward" road traffic accident.
News of the men's deaths was kept from the media while relatives were informed, he added.
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