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Baghdad security to intensify with new U.S. troops

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Efforts to combat sectarian violence in war-wracked Baghdad are expected to intensify as more than 3,000 U.S. troops are added as part of a new White House strategy.

The 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, about 3,200 soldiers, arrived in Iraq in late January and was fully activated several days ago.

The troops are part of President Bush's plan to increase U.S. forces in Iraq by more than 20,000.

Two days after the deadliest single bombing of the war killed nearly 130 people, some Iraqis have criticized the United States for responding too slowly to worsening violence.

Asked about that criticism, President Bush said, "I appreciate the fact that the Iraqi government is anxious to get security inside the capital of their country," said Bush after meeting with Cabinet members Monday.

"It's a good sign that there's a sense of concern and anxiety. It means the government understands that it has a responsibility to protect their people. And we want to help them."

Bush said the new commander of U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, was heading to the region.

Most of the 2nd Brigade troops will participate in efforts to stem sectarian violence in Baghdad, however about 4,000 Marines will be dispatched to Iraq's volatile Anbar province, west of Baghdad.

The Baghdad security plan -- led by Iraqi forces -- will address two key aspects that failed under the previous attempt to secure the Iraqi capital: adding more U.S. and Iraqi forces and setting up a unified command and control structure.

U.S. military officials have acknowledged that Operation Together Forward, which was launched in June, was largely a failure.

Part of the problem was Iraqi security forces and police taking part in unilateral operations, and not communicating with their U.S. counterparts.

Under the new plan, joint security stations have been set up across Baghdad where all security forces will work together.

Coalition forces reported gains Monday against suspected terrorists, but there was no claim of responsibility for Saturday's bombing at a crowded market. (Watch Iraqi demand better security after the bloody attack on the Baghdad market )

In Washington Monday, a Senate showdown on Bush's Iraq strategy loomed as Republicans said they would block a measure stating opposition to the White House plan. (Full story)

The political battle over Iraq comes after Friday's intelligence report from the Bush administration that said Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence has become the primary source of conflict in the war, and Iraqi leaders will be "hard-pressed to achieve sustained political reconciliation" in the next 18 months. (Full story)

'Rogue' militia leader killed

Iraqi soldiers killed an official of the Mehdi militia Sunday during a raid in Diyala province, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Ali Kadhim al-Hamadani was the leader of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's office in Diyala, north of Baghdad, a Baquba police official said.

A statement from the U.S. military said the official was a "rogue" Mehdi leader who directed several kidnappings and assassinations targeting Iraqi civilians and police as well as attacks on coalition and Iraqi forces.

Two Iraqi soldiers shot and killed al-Hamadani, who was armed with an assault rifle and posed "an immediate threat to Iraqi forces," the U.S. military said.

But Saleh al-Ageili, a spokesman for the Sadr movement's parliamentary bloc, said al-Mahadani was stabbed with a bayonet inside his house in front of his family.

Al-Sadr's Mehdi army is blamed for much of Iraq's sectarian violence.

Raids target al Qaeda in Iraq

In Monday's coalition raids targeting al Qaeda in Iraq, coalition forces detained the leader of a suspected cell in the northern city of Mosul, along with three others, according to the U.S. military.

In Karabila, outside the city of al-Qaim near Iraq's border with Syria, coalition forces killed three suspects and detained 13 others suspected of helping al Qaeda in Iraq move foreign fighters into Iraq.

In Karma, north of Falluja, coalition forces detained four men also suspected of having ties to a foreign fighter facilitation cell.

Just south of Baghdad in Arab Jabour, coalition forces captured four men suspected of helping manufacture car bombs for the terrorist group.

In Baquba, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, a suspected terrorist with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq also was detained.

Iraqi police recovered 25 bodies Monday that were found dumped across the capital -- an almost daily occurrence from killings that police believe are the result of sectarian rivalries.

Attacks kill 35

Attacks in Baghdad and Baquba on Monday killed at least 35 people and injured more than a hundred others.

CNN's Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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