Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded when insurgents attacked their unit by small-arms fire in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

    The attack took place in Mosul, the capital city of Nineveh province, on Wednesday, a military statement said.

    The names of the deceased soldier are being withheld pending notification of next of kin, it added.

    The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq to about 3,900 since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to media reports based on Pentagon figures.