Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Five American soldiers died as a helicopter crashed near an air base west of Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

    The CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down in the vicinity of al-Taqaddum Air Base close to Falluja, 65 km west of Baghdad, while conducting a routine post-maintenance check flight, the statement said.

    The cause of the incident is under investigation, it added.

    The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq to 3,699 since the Iraq war broke out in March 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.