Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, April 20 (Xinhua) -- An American soldier was killed and two others wounded on Thursday when a rocket hit a U.S. military base in the town of Mahmoudiyah, some 30 km south of the Iraqi capital, said a U.S. military statement on Friday.

    Earlier, the military announced the killing of four more U.S. soldiers and wounding of another in Baghdad and western Iraqi province of Anbar.

    A soldier was killed on Wednesday after his patrol was attacked by small arms fire in south west of Baghdad, according to the statement.

    Two more soldiers were killed and another wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Wednesday, another statement said.

    A marine died on Monday in nonhostile shooting incident during combat operations in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a separate statement said, adding that the incident is under investigation.

    Names of the soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the U.S. Department of Defense, the statements said.

    More than 3,315 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.