Major-General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, commander of military operations in Nineveh province, said additional Iraqi troops would arrive within hours from Baghdad, with more expected in the days after that. He gave no details of numbers. Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters were being sent to Iraq’s third largest city, 390 km north of Baghdad, for an offensive that he said would begin “very soon”.
Two US soldiers were killed in separate bombings in Baghdad, the military said on Sunday, AP reported. One soldier died on Sunday after his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in northeastern Baghdad, according to a statement. Another soldier was killed on Saturday by a bomb during a foot patrol near Kazimiyah, a predominantly Shia neighborhood in northern Baghdad, the military said separately. Identities were not released pending notification of relatives.