US general wants more troops for volatile province

WASHINGTON, Mar 10 (Reuters) The US commander for northern Iraq has asked for more troops to clamp down on insurgent attacks and sectarian violence in the volatile province of Diyala, he said.

Maj Gen Benjamin Mixon said he had moved additional forces from his own area into Diyala and requested extra troops from elsewhere in the country from Lt Gen Ray Odierno, the top commander of day-to-day operations in Iraq.

''Could I use more forces in Diyala? No question about it and I'm in discussions about it with Gen Odierno as he attempts to balance the requirements in Baghdad,'' Mixon told reporters at the Pentagon by videolink from Iraq.

Despite opposition from Democrats who want a timetable for a US withdrawal from Iraq, President George W Bush has already ordered more than 20,000 additional troops into battle, most of them to help stabilize Baghdad. There are currently about 1,40,000 US troops in the country.

Religiously mixed Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, has witnessed some of the worst sectarian violence in Iraq between Shi'ites and Sunnis. A suicide bomber killed 30 people in a cafe in a town in Diyala on Wednesday.

US military commanders say militants are also using Diyala -- a rural area of palm groves and orchards -- as a launching ground for attacks in Baghdad.

Mixon declined to say how many additional troops he had requested but advised reporters to ''keep an eye on what goes on in Diyala over the next couple of weeks''.

He said he was encouraged by security progress in other northern provinces but that violence had increased in Diyala.

Mixon said US forces believed extremists had moved into Diyala from Baghdad, where US and Iraqi troops are engaged in a security crackdown, and the western province of Anbar, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents and al Qaeda fighters.

''I have moved additional forces and capabilities into Diyala over the last couple of weeks as we began larger offensive operations in (the provincial capital) Baquba and other portions of the surrounding area,'' he said.

Mixon said he was cautiously optimistic his troops would see an improvement in Diyala in the next 30-60 days.

''If we do not, I will make adjustments and I may go back to Gen Odierno and ask for additional support,'' he said.

Gen David Petraeus, the overall US commander in Iraq, said on Thursday Diyala required attention and Baquba was an ''area of concern'' due to sectarian tension. He indicated such areas would get more troops.

A senior Pentagon official said this week the number of additional U.S. troops needed to carry out Bush's security plan for Iraq could approach 30,000, taking into account units needed to support 21,500 extra combat troops announced in January.

Reuters DKS VP0432