The US military has said that 3,000 more troops have arrived in Baghdad - the first of the troops promised by the US President, George W Bush, to reinforce the US military presence in Iraq.
Their arrival coincides with the deaths of seven people - and the injuring of 20 others - by two separate bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital.
The first bomb destroyed a small bus in a mostly Shia area in the south, killing six people.
The second bomb killed one person in Beirut Square in the centre of the city.
US forces have meanwhile suffered some of their heaviest casualties in recent months, with the loss of 19 troops over the last two days.
In another incident, a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb near Basra.
Yesterday, a black hawk helicopter crashed in Baghdad, killing all 13 crewmembers on board.
A website linked to the former ruling Baath party said an Islamist group shot down the aircraft, but there is no independent verification.
In a separate incident, the US military said five of its soldiers were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a government building in Kerbala some 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.
Two other soldiers were killed elsewhere, and the deaths of two killed on Friday were also announced.
