Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of five U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded in Iraq on Sunday, the U.S. military said on Monday.

    A marine, assigned to Multi National Force - West, was killed while conducting combat operations in the volatile Anbar Province in western Iraq, the military said in a statement.

    A second soldier, assigned to Multi national Division - Baghdad, was killed and two others were injured by a roadside bomb while their unit was supporting "an ongoing air assault mission southwest of the Iraqi capital," the military said in another statement.

    A third soldier, assigned to Task Force Lightning Soldiers, was killed and another injured in an explosion while conducting combat operations in Salahudin province north of Baghdad, a statement said without specifying the cause of the explosion.

    Two more soldiers died Sunday due to separate noncombat related incidents in and north of the capital, the military said in brief statements, adding that the two incidents are currently under investigation.

    Since the U.S.-led war in Iraq broke out in March 2003, about 3,195 U.S. soldiers have been killed in the country, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.