US:The United States said yesterday its forces were expecting to suffer heavier casualties as they pushed into "tougher neighbourhoods" in their campaign to crush the insurgency in Iraq.
The White House warning came on a day when 25 people were killed near Ramadi in two suicide bombings police blamed on al-Qaeda. They were the latest in a string of big car bombings across Iraq in recent weeks that have killed hundreds, despite the US-backed security crackdown in Baghdad and outlying areas.
"We are getting to the point now with the Baghdad security plan where there is going to be real engagement in tougher neighbourhoods and you're likely to see escalating levels of casualties," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "We've known that, been saying it all along. We're getting into some of the grittiest security operations."
Eight US soldiers were killed on Sunday in roadside bomb attacks and were among 12 whose deaths were announced, following an April in which more than 100 US troops died.
Since the US-led invasion in 2003, more than 3,300 US soldiers have been killed.
Yesterday's first bomb went off in a packed market at Albu-Thiyab, a town northeast of Ramadi, said Tareq al-Thiyabi, a police colonel in Anbar province. He said 13 people were killed at the market, including women and children. Nearly 20 people were wounded.
The second car bomb exploded soon afterwards at a police checkpoint in a town called al-Jazeera, where 12 people, including five policemen, were killed, he added. More than 25 were wounded.
Al-Jazeera is home to many Sunni Arab tribal leaders who formed an alliance against Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda last year, opening up a fierce power struggle for Anbar.
The tribal chiefs oppose al-Qaeda's campaign of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and the imposition of an austere form of Islam in the areas where the group holds sway.
The al-Qaeda-led Islamic State in Iraq claimed responsibility for Sunday's roadside blast, calling it an attack on "cross-worshipping soldiers". - (Reuters)