Iraq To Bring More Troops Into Baghdad

Iraqi police on patrol in Baghdad in December 2006 (epa) January 8, 2007 -- Iraq plans to bring in more troops to Baghdad to take part in a major security operation.

An adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said two brigades from northern Iraq -- made up mostly of Kurdish soldiers -- and one from the mainly Shi'ite south will be called in.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military has announced the deaths of five more U.S. troops, and at least 14 Iraqis have died in fresh bombings and shootings.

The new commander of U.S. combat forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, said it may take two or three years to meet the goals of defeating the insurgency and training Iraqi security forces.

In Washington, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California) vowed to examine carefully U.S. President George W. Bush's expected plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq.

(Reuters, AP)