‘US death toll in Iraq much higher than reported’

"We are not exaggerating when we say that the number of deaths in the ranks of the crusader army is ten times higher than the 2,000 announced in the pernicious media," the group said in a website statement.

"Their forces have encountered difficulties disposing of the corpses which they are burying in mass graves in the desert, throwing in the rivers, or incinerating," the message continued.

No evidence was offered for the claims.

Three US soldiers were killed Saturday in two incidents in Iraq, the US military announced Saturday, as two more US servicemen were reported dead in neighbouring Kuwait.