The number of US military deaths in Iraq reached 2,000 on Tuesday, two and a half years after the American invasion of the Middle East country in March 2003, according to figures and the latest casualties announced by the Pentagon.

The latest death of a US soldier who died at a hospital in Texas over the weekend was announced on Tuesday by the Pentagon.

Earlier Tuesday, President George W. Bush warned Americans to brace for more casualties in Iraq because the US military faced more challenges before it could restore stability to Iraq.

"This war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve," he said in a speech before the Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' luncheon, in Washington, D.C.

"The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we have ever faced, unconstrained by any notion of common humanity and by the rules of warfare," said the president.

"No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead," he noted.

In Baghdad, an American military spokesman called on news organizations not to look at the 2,000 death marker as a milestone in the conflict. The 2,000 figure was an "artificial mark on the wall," he said.

Meanwhile, anti-war activists across the United States were preparing to mark the 2,000th US military death, with more than 300 events planned for Wednesday, one day after the milestone number was reported.

Source: Xinhua