Meanwhile...

Los Angeles Times:

Al Qaeda-allied militants holed up in a volatile southeastern Baghdad neighborhood were believed responsible for an ambush that killed five U.S. soldiers scouring the capital for bomb-building sites, a spokesman for American-led forces said Sunday.

After a sniper's bullet felled a soldier Saturday in the Arab Jabour district, his fellow troops from Task Force Marne rushed the house from which the shot was fired, said the spokesman, Janah Hammoud.As they did, an explosion from apressure-activated blast killed four more soldiers and injured four others.

Since the Pentagon stepped up its offensive against Al Qaeda in Iraq and other militant groups with the addition of 28,500 troops this year, casualties have mounted, as has the complexity of attacks on U.S. patrols.