Anti-war activists will carry out a series of protests across the United States on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Hundreds of protests, rallies and marches will be staged in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and other cities to demand a swift withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and to mourn those killed during the war, organizers said Tuesday.

Demonstrators are planning to "blockade" the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, to hold a "knit-in" at the Times Square military recruitment center in New York City, where protesters will knit stump socks for amptuee veterans and baby blankets for Iraqis.

Nearly 4,000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed in the war, since the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.

Last year, the United States raised its troop commitment to Iraq above 160,000, the highest level since the invasion. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month showed that 63 percent of Americans felt the war was not worth fighting.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2008)