WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have been killed by "friendly fire" rather than by enemy fire as initially reported, the U.S. Army said on Wednesday.

Specialist Alan McPeek and Private Matthew Zeimer were killed on February 2 during combat operations in Iraq's al Anbar province.

Initially, the families of both soldiers were notified that they had been killed during an engagement with the enemy.

The families were not informed until March 31 that the soldiers may have been killed in a friendly fire incident, an Army statement said.

"Following the initial report, additional analysis indicated the possibility that the two soldiers killed in action were killed as a result of friendly fire," the statement said.

The army now is investigating the circumstances of the deaths as a possible friendly fire incident, the statement said.

The case is reminiscent of the death of U.S. Army Ranger and former professional football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan in April 2004.

The Army initially told Tillman's family he was killed by enemy fire and did not alter that account until a month later, even though officers quickly knew that he was likely killed by U.S. troops, the Pentagon's acting inspector general said last month.