BAGHDAD - Three U.S. service members were killed Wednesday in southern Iraq.

The names of the deceased and details of the incident are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

The names of deceased service members will be announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/

The announcements are made on the website no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin.