U.S. Reports 5 More Troops Killed in Iraq

Bitter rivalry between two powerful clans for leadership of Iraq's Shiite Muslims snarled efforts Tuesday to agree on the next prime minister, the key issue that is blocking a national unity government. Meanwhile, the U.S. military reported the deaths of five more soldiers, including three killed Tuesday in a roadside bombing north of the capital.

On Wednesday, gunmen in Baghdad hunted down three different government employees and shot them dead on their way to work, police said.

An internal affairs officer at the Interior Ministry was killed by men in two cars while leaving his house in Amil in western Baghdad. A Housing Ministry employee was killed as he drove to work in the same neighborhood, police said.

In northern Baghdad, gunmen shot down an Oil Ministry worker at a bus stop, police said.

The latest casualties raised the U.S. death toll so far this month to at least 31 — the same for all of March, according to an Associated Press count.

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