Reply #7: U.S. SAYS MOST CITIES "UNDER CONTROL"

[quagmire_iraq]

Brigadier General Mark 'the frog- change the channel if you dont like bad news' Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the U.S. army in Iraq, confirmed there had been clashes in a number of Iraqi cities.

"With the exception of what we are seeing in Baquba, most seem to be under control right now," he told reporters.

A senior U.S. officer said the attacks were likely to have been the work of Saddam loyalists, rather than Zarqawi followers. He said 30 to 40 fighters had staged the Baquba attacks, with lower numbers in action elsewhere.

U.S. forces had used laser-guided weapons against three houses in Baquba to silence small-arms fire.

(With reporting by Faris Mehdawi in Baquba, Fadel Badran in Falluja and Maher al-Thanoon in Mosul)