Meanwhile...

AP:

Suicide bombings killed nearly 50 people and wounded dozens in two Shiite villages north of Baghdad, including a large truck explosion Saturday that ripped through an outdoor market and buried victims in rubble, officials said.

Separately, eight American troops and a British soldier were killed in fighting over two days.

The blasts suggested that Sunni militants are regrouping to launch their deadliest form of attack _ suicide explosions, often against Shiites _ in regions further away from Baghdad, beyond the edges of a three-week old U.S. offensive on the capital's northern flank.