Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    FALLUJAH, Iraq, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. marine took his own life by putting a bullet through his head on Sunday morning near the restive city of Fallujah, local police source said.

    "Early in the morning, a marine took the pistol of an Iraqi policeman in the police station of Amriyah town just south of Fallujah, and put a bullet in his head," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    "The soldier uttered words saying he was sad and miserable," the source said.

    The U.S. troops kept the policeman who gave the marine the pistol for several hours, but released him later, he added.

    Three U.S. helicopters landed at the police station and one of them evacuated the marine's body, he said.

    The U.S. military did not confirm the incident.

    In a separate incident, three Iraqi soldiers were killed and two others wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near their patrol in Fallujah city, some 50 km west of Baghdad, the source said.