Insurgents attacked Iraqi and US forces in Baghdad today, hours after a top US general conceded it was too early to say if a big Fallujah offensive had broken the backbone of the insurgency.
A dawn assault with rocket-propelled grenades on a police station in the Sunni district of Aadhamiya killed at least three officers - a day after Iraq's US-backed National Guard raided a mosque revered by the Sunni Muslim minority.
A Polish woman freed by kidnappers in Iraq and flown to Warsaw said she was treated well, raising hopes for other foreign hostages after a week in which the only other woman held captive, Irish-born Margaret Hassan, was thought to have been killed.
In Aadhamiya, US tanks and helicopters helped beat off the insurgents after a three-hour battle near the Abu Hanifa mosque, where four worshippers were killed and 17 arrested yesterday. A US soldier was killed and nine wounded when their patrol was caught in an ambush in Baghdad, the US military said.
In the western Amriya district, gunmen in cars opened fire on a National Guard unit. A Guard at the scene said seven of the assailants were killed and seven passers-by wounded.
Lieutenant General Lance Smith, deputy US commander in the region that includes Iraq, also said his command may ask for 3,000 to 5,000 more troops. Confirming plans outlined some weeks ago, he said this would be mainly by delaying the scheduled departure of some soldiers, to improve election security.
On Thursday, Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Fallujah, said he felt the all-out assault on the city had "broken the back of the insurgency". The US force numbers close to 140,000 at the moment.
In Ramadi, scene of frequent clashes just west of Fallujah, US forces sealed off roads into the city and called on people through loudspeakers to hand over "terrorists". Helicopters flew over and Americans blocked access in or out of the Sunni city as troops searched buildings south of the centre.