Police: 85 Iraqis Killed Nationwide

A soldier with the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division keeps watch at an observation post on the roof of the Joint Security Station in Yarmouk, western Baghdad, Tuesday, April 29, 2007. The soldier has pasted a photograph of the vista just below his weapon, so that he can check and see whether any suspicious changes have been made to security barriers and other buildings in the neighborhood. (AP Photo/Lauren Frayer) (Lauren Frayer - AP)

"While the security situation remains exceedingly challenging, we've seen some encouraging signs of progress," Rear Admiral Mark Fox said, citing the opening of 57 joint security stations and combat outposts to protect civilians in the Baghdad area.

"We continue to see a reduced total number of sectarian incidents in comparison to before the Baghdad security operation, including murders and kidnappings," Fox said.

But he acknowledged that car bomb attacks have increased, including some with very high casualties.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said extremist attacks had fallen significantly in Baghdad as militants flee the city.

He said most of the fighting was occurring in communities near the capital and that Iraqi forces would bolster their positions within the city shortly.

"Next week will witness more military operations in both halves of Baghdad," he said, referring to the two sides of the Tigris River that divides the city. "Almost all our military operations are now taking place on Baghdad's outskirts."

U.S. officials have insisted that it's too early to judge the effectiveness of the security plan because all American forces will not be deployed in the streets until next month.

On Wednesday, the U.S. military announced that its buildup of forces was nearly complete with the arrival this week of the fourth of five brigades ordered to Baghdad by President Bush in January.

About 3,700 soldiers from the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Washington, will be deployed in the Baghdad area and in northern Iraq, the military said.

When the fifth brigade arrives by next month, the U.S. command will have about 160,000 American troops in the country.

Still, the security operation has not ended the slaughter.

On Wednesday, police reported finding the bullet-riddled bodies of 55 people apparently slain by sectarian death squads. They included 30 in Baghdad and 10 in Baqouba, where U.S. troops are trying to wrest control of the city from al-Qaida and its allies.

The other killings were reported in Mosul, Baghdad and communities south of the capital, police said.

The violence occurred on the eve of an international conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik in a bid to boost economic and diplomatic support for Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged international resistance to new financial and political support for Iraq _ particularly debt relief.

"The region has everything at stake here; Iraq's neighbors have everything at stake here," Rice told reporters traveling with her to a gathering that will include U.S. adversaries Iran and Syria.