US 'sobered' by Iraq attacks

Armitage vowed to crush the insurgents

A top US official has said Washington was sobered by recent attacks against coalition troops in Iraq, describing the country as a "war zone".

But speaking in Baghdad, US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, said the US-led coalition was taking the battle to the enemy.

In continuing violence, two US soldiers were killed in the town of Falluja and two loud explosions were heard in Baghdad on Saturday evening.

On Friday, six US troops died when a US helicopter was shot down in Tikrit.

Mr Armitage's comments came shortly after the International Committee of the Red Cross said it would cut its operations in much of Iraq amid concerns over the safety of its staff.

ICRC spokesman Florian Westphal said their Baghdad and Basra offices were closing given "the extremely dangerous and volatile situation" in the country.

'Solid plan'

During a news conference in the heavily guarded Baghdad compound, Mr Armitage admitted that there was a security problem in several major Iraqi cities, including the capital.

Factfile: Black Hawk Profile: Saddam's home town

But he said he was "absolutely convinced we have a very solid plan to go out and get these people who are killing us and killing Iraqis".

Mr Armitage's comments came after his talks with the US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, and senior Iraqi officials.

Mr Armitage also said Washington was engaged in discussions with a number of countries to send soldiers to Iraq next year, and he stressed America's intention to gradually hand responsibility for security over to the Iraqis.

Continuing attacks

On Saturday, the two US soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division soldiers died - and another was wounded - when their armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

The blast just - outside the volatile town of Falluja - came only a day after the US Black Hawk helicopter went down near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing all six its crew.

In response, American jets dropped bombs around the crash scene and troops raided several Tikrit neighbourhoods.

US officials did not confirm for nearly 24 hours that the Black Hawk was shot down, as opposed to being brought down by mechanical failure.

"We do believe it was brought down by ground fire," Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Russell told Reuters news agency on Saturday.

Two explosions were heard in the centre of Baghdad late on Saturday.

A mortar landed close to the sprawling coalition compound on the west side of the Tigris.