The off-duty soldiers had just ended their shifts outside the northern city of Mosul when gunmen ambushed their car Saturday morning.
Two police officers said the gunmen fled after the attack. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Mosul is a former haven for al-Qaida insurgents and Iraq's third-largest city, located 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.
Insurgents have been trying to regain strength in the city after losing it to American and Iraqi forces in clashes years ago.
