Violence up in Baghdad: Iraqi army
AFP - 1 hour 20 minutes agoBAGHDAD (AFP) - The Iraqi army said on Wednesday that violence in Baghdad had spiked in the past two weeks, forcing the authorities to spread troops across the capital.


"The violence has increased in the capital during the past two weeks and the decision was taken to spread the army in all the districts," Major General Qassim Atta told a press conference.

Atta's comment comes at a time when violence across the country is at a four-year low, according to US and Iraqi officials.

Without offering details on whether extra troops would be deployed in Baghdad, Atta said "terrorists had raised the level of violence (in Baghdad) by planting bombs (and) carrying out assassinations using guns with silencers."

He said people and media employees have been warned to check their vehicles to thwart any such bids.

On September 20, the head of the main journalists' union in Iraq survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded outside his office in Baghdad.

Muayad al-Lami was wounded when the bomb exploded as he was seeing off some guests.

In February, Lami's predecessor, Shihab al-Timimi, died four days after being shot in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad.

Insurgents have managed to carry out attacks in Baghdad and in the dangerous province of Diyala, north of Baghdad.

On Wednesday, gunmen slaughtered a group of 20 people, 12 policemen and eight anti-Qaeda fighters, in a village in Diyala.

American Military Casualties in Iraq
Date	Total	In Combat
American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03):	4171	3385
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) (the list)	4032	3269
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03):	3710	3071
Since Handover (6/29/04):	3305	2752
Since Election (1/31/05):	2725	2490
American Wounded	Official	Estimated
Total Wounded:	30662	Over 100000