(Updates with background)

BAGHDAD, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq's volatile Anbar province, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

The military said the four soldiers and one Marine died on Saturday "from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in al-Anbar province".

Anbar, heartland of the Sunni insurgency against the U.S. military and the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, is the deadliest region in Iraq for U.S. soldiers.

The U.S. military suffered one of its deadliest days in Iraq on Saturday, when 19 soldiers were killed -- 12 in a helicopter crash, five in clashes with gunmen in the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, and two in separate incidents.

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