Iraqis Expand Baghdad Security Operation

A resident views a big hole in the ceiling of his building following a bomb blast inside one of the apartments on Thursday, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday Sept. 1, 2006. A barrage of coordinated bomb and rocket attacks on Aug. 31, 2006, across eastern Baghdad neighborhoods killed at least 55 people and wounded more than 200 within about half an hour, police said Friday.The attacks on mainly Shiite neighborhoods came even as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Iraqi forces should have control over most of the country by year's end. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (Khalid Mohammed - AP)

The area witnessed repeated clashes in the past between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, though American forces have rarely ventured into the area recently.

"No neighborhood is off limits," al-Askari told the AP. "There's not a single neighborhood that's a red line for us. Any area that has terrorist activity, we will enter _ there will be no stop sign."

He said no special arrangements had been made to deal with a security operation into the neighborhood. Other areas include Baghdad Jadida, Habibiyah, Waziriyah and Palestine Street, which has witnessed a surge in violence recently.

The expanded security operation will begin in a week to 10 days, he said, adding that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would decide on the exact date.

Al-Askari said the first two phases of the operation, which included Sunni Arab districts, was successful.

"The terrorists will not work in these districts any more, the terrorists are moving to suburbs of Baghdad, to districts that were not included in the first and second phases, to worsen the security situation there," he said.

Despite the violence, Iraqi authorities are optimistic about the handover of security control. The Iraqi Ground Forces Command took over control from the U.S.-led coalition Friday of the first of 10 Iraqi army divisions, the U.S.-led command said in a statement.

The 8th Iraqi Army Division, based in Diwaniyah, will now report directly to Iraqi authorities rather than through the coalition.

Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, was the site of a fierce, 12-hour battle between the 8th Division and Shiite militia earlier in the week that left more than 20 soldiers and 50 militiamen dead.

Meanwhile, a bomb detonated Friday on the outskirts of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, damaging an oil pipeline and cutting supplies to a major electricity station.

Police said no one was injured, but electricity authorities in Babil province warned the damage would lead to longer power cuts in the cities of Karbala, Najaf, Hillah and Diwaniyah.

Iraqis have faced severe fuel shortages since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster, and insurgents have frequently targeted pipelines and oil refineries.

In other violence across the country Friday, according to police:

_ The body of Kamil Shateb, a former intelligence officer during Saddam Hussein's regime, was found in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, a morgue official said. He had been kidnapped the day before and shot in the head.

_ Gunmen shot and killed a policeman in Numaniyah, a town near Kut, after breaking into his house Thursday night.

_ A policeman was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

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Associated Press reporter Raweya Rageh contributed to this report from Baghdad.