Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    WASHINGTON, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Defense Department is planning to dispatch another 12,000 National Guard soldiers to Iraq, NBC Nightly News reported on Thursday.

    The NBC quoted Pentagon sources as saying that four states will provide the troops from four brigades to attend the involuntary mobilization.

    The report said the new orders awaited the approval of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and the one-year combat deployment would begin in early 2008.

    The Pentagon said Monday that it would deploy an additional 9,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, with about half of them returning to combat ahead of schedule.

    Under the U.S.'s new Iraq policy announced earlier this year, the Pentagon has increased force levels in that country by about 30,000 troops in an attempt to regain control of security and reduce sectarian violence.