BAGHDAD — Insurgents killed three British troops and two American soldiers in separate attacks in southern and central Iraq, coalition officials said today.

Several British soldiers also were wounded in the Thursday mortar attack on their base at the airport in the southern city of Basra, the British military said. The two Americans were killed in separate attacks Thursday in the Baghdad area, the U.S. said.

The British deaths bring the number of British soldiers killed in the Iraq war to 162. The much larger American force has lost at least 3,630 service members, according to an Associated Press count.

U.S. and British officials hope that stepped up military operations around Baghdad will give Iraqi leaders the chance to reach power-sharing agreements to establish a long-term peace in this country.

On Thursday, Sunni legislators returned to parliament after a five-week boycott, raising hopes the assembly can make progress on legislation demanded by Washington before the lawmakers take a month's break in August.

BEIJING — China said today it had shut down a chemical plant implicated in the deaths of 94 people in Panama from medicine containing an antifreeze ingredient and also closed two companies whose products have been linked to the deaths of dozens of pets in North America.China's quality control agency also said police were investigating two of the companies — Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd. It did not elaborate.