Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Five U.S. troops, including one marine, were killed in separate attacks across Iraq on Sunday, the U.S. military said on Monday.

    Two soldiers and one marine, assigned to Multi National Force-West, were killed during combat operations in Iraq's western Anbar province, the U.S. military said in a brief statement.

    Earlier, the military said that two soldiers were killed in two attacks in Baghdad on Sunday.

    A soldier was killed in a roadside bomb explosion followed by small arms fire attack on his joint U.S. and Iraqi patrol in western Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

    Another soldier was killed when insurgents attacked his combat patrol with small arms fire in southern Baghdad, another statement said.

    More than 3,580 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the Iraq war broke out in March 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.