Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq

An explosion destroys the Al Jameat Police Station in Basra, south of Baghdad, Dec. 25, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military announced on Wednesday deaths of three more U.S. soldiers in separate incidents in Iraq.

    One marine died on Wednesday from wounds sustained in combat in the volatile western province of Al-Anbar, the military said in a statement.

    According to the statement, a soldier also died north of Baghdad as a result of "non-combat related injuries" on Dec. 23,while another soldier died from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident during a combat reconnaissance mission south of Baghdad on Tuesday.

    On Tuesday, three U.S. soldier were also killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb went off near their patrol in northwest of Baghdad earlier in the day.

    "The patrol was conducting a route clearance mission when a roadside bomb exploded near them," the military said in a statement.

    Earlier in the day, the military announced deaths of another three U.S. soldiers in two roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad on Monday.

    Media reports said that at least 95 U.S. military personnel had died in Iraq so far in December.

    The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. fatalities in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to some 2,983, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.

U.S. military deaths in Iraq surpass toll of Sept. 11

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the war started in March 2003 has exceeded the toll in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. media reported Tuesday.

    A total of 2,973 people were killed in the attacks on Sept. 11,2001, and as of Tuesday, at least 2,977 American military personnel have been killed in Iraq, according to the Associated Press. Full story>>

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