Escalation

The officers said the exact number of extra troops needed is still being reviewed but estimated it at the equivalent of several battalions, or about 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers … “Our assessment is that the insurgency remains viable,” a senior military intelligence officer here said. “One of the things we see the insurgents doing is moving to areas where we don’t have a lot of presence.” The number of daily attacks, which surged to about 130 at the start of the Fallujah operation, has declined to between 70 and 80 in recent days, roughly the level before the operation.