Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq    

    BAGHDAD, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed in small-arms fire attack in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

    The soldiers, assigned to Multi-National Division - North, were killed in the town of Hawijah near the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, the military said in a brief statement.

    The names of the deceased soldiers were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, it added.

    The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion at about 4,090, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.