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A US soldier who had done three tours of duty in Iraq has been charged over a shooting spree that left five comrades dead at a clinic in Baghdad.

The US military issued a statement saying Sergeant John Russell, from the 54th Engineer Battalion, was alleged to be responsible for the killings on Monday at Camp Liberty, a US base near the international airport on the outskirts of the city.

Russell, from Sherman, Texas, had been sent for counselling to the Liberty Combat Stress Control Centre. In a sign of the extent of the military's concern, he had had his weapon taken away last week.

Investigators are looking at reports that he had been taken to the clinic, had a row with staff, been escorted off the premises but managed to obtain a weapon and return.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the incident highlighted the need to deal with combat stress and the impact of multiple deployments.

Before the tours in Iraq, Russell had served in the Balkans. He had been due to leave Iraq in about three weeks.

Barack Obama expressed shock at what he described as a "horrible tragedy".

The dead have not yet been named, but all were military personnel. Two worked at the clinic and the other three were troops, either receiving treatment or present for some other reason.

It was the worst death toll as a result of a US soldier turning on his own comrades since the start of the Iraq war.

Russell, 44, a communications specialist, was arrested outside the clinic after the shooting. He has been charged with five counts of murder and one of aggravated assault.

The Associated Press, which obtained copies of his service record, said he had his first tour of duty in Iraq in April 2003, lasting a year, and a second in November 2005, also for a year.

He enlisted in Sherman, joining first the National Guard in 1988 and then the Army in 1994. He served in the Balkans in 1996 and 1998. During his years in service, he received several medals and commendations.

The 54th Engingeer Battalion is based in Bamberg, Germany. Much of its work in Iraq over the last year has been in southern Iraq, engaged in both engineering projects and combat duties.

One of the investigations is criminal while the other is more general, into whether the military is doing enough to address mental health problems.