Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq
    WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said Friday that it will send some 1,000 troops to Iraq three months ahead of the schedule in order to quell growing violence in Baghdad.

    The Pentagon said in a statement that the troops from the 3rd Army Infantry Division headquarters in Fort Stewart, Georgia, will be dispatched to Baghdad in March instead of June as originally planned.

    The deployment is part of the ongoing U.S. military buildup in Iraq, following U.S. President George W. Bush's announcement in January that he will send 21,500 additional troops there to boost security in Baghdad.

    The 3rd Infantry Division already has 4,500 troops in Iraq.

    All together, the United States now has 141,000 troops in Iraq and once Bush's "surge plan" is completed, the number will rise to more than 160,000.