New surge of violence as Baghdad curfew lifted

Since the Baghdad curfews were lifted on Saturday, a wave of violence violence erupted on Monday -- part of the ten separate incidents throughout Iraq that day.  On Tuesday, as US and Iraqi forces stepped up their offensive in Southern Iraq, there were a wave of new attacks all across the country:

U.S.-led forces battled with ShiiteMuslim militiamen in southern Iraq on Monday and killed at least 20suspected fighters, the military said, while car bombs and otherviolence left at least 40 people dead in the capital following days ofcalm brought on by a curfew.

Violence also erupted again inSamarra, north of Baghdad, the site of a bombing Wednesday thattargeted a revered Shiite shrine and prompted officials to clampcurfews on Baghdad and Samarra. Police said four people died when asuicide bomber rammed his car into a Samarra school that was being usedto house police officers.

And as the New York Times now reports, the US is sending more forces into Diyala Province because the Baghdad troop surge encouraged insurgents to flood into the suburbs:

It reflects an acknowledgment that as fresh infusions of Americantroops focused on Baghdad in recent months, insurgents moved theirbases outside the city. The goal, commanders said, was to break thecycle of sectarian killings and retribution that has swept Iraq.

Nonetheless, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow insists that Bush is impressed by all the recent progress in Iraq.