The US army has deployed an extra5,000 US troops in Baghdad, stepping up security in the Iraqicapital ahead of the Jan. 30 elections, a senior US commander saidTuesday.

"We anticipate more assassinations and car bombs before theelections and we learn and react. We have done that with the Mosulincident," Brigadier General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of theFirst Cavalry Division, said in Baghdad.

Hammond said his troops in Baghdad, which group about 34,000 USand multinational soldiers and military personnel, have alreadybeen boosted by 5,000 soldiers.

Last week, a suicide attack at a US hall in the al-Ghazlanymilitary camp, some 5 km south of the northern city of Mosul,killed 22 people, including 18 Americans. It was the deadliestsingle attack against US troops in Iraq.

Security measures have been tightened in US military basesthroughout Baghdad, including searching all non-US citizens everytime they enter places where US soldiers gather, such as mess hallsand other common areas, Hammond told reporters.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said last week that thetotal number of US troops in Iraq has already been increased to150,000 from 138,000 for the elections.

Source: Xinhua