US and Iraqi forces say they have killed 90 al-Qaeda fighters around Baghdad in the past five days, during one of the biggest combined offensives against the Sunni Islamist group since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
US air strikes today killed seven suspected al Qaeda fighters in Tikrit in Salahuddin province and near the city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement announcing the latest raids.
In Baghdad, Iraq's parliament voted to cut its summer vacation by a month to focus on passing laws Washington views as crucial to healing Iraq's deep sectarian divide. Lawmakers said the current session would be extended until the end of July.
The move is likely to be welcomed by US President George W. Bush but is largely symbolic as the bills have yet to be presented to parliament for debate.
US attack helicopters have killed dozens of al-Qaeda militants and destroyed numerous safe houses, signalling a more aggressive stance toward the group, which US officials say is trying to spark all-out sectarian civil war in the country.
Thousands of US and Iraqi soldiers are taking part in simultaneous offensives in beltways and provinces around Baghdad to deny al-Qaeda militants sanctuary in farmlands and towns from where they launch car bomb attacks and other violence.
A key plank of the combined offensives is Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which began in and around the city of Baquba in Diyala province on Tuesday.
The US military said today that 55 al-Qaeda militants had been killed in that operation alone. Another 28 have been killed in separate operations in the past several days in Diyala, the US military has said.
Meanwhile, four US soldiers were killed today when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle northwest of Baghdad, the US military said. A fifth soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.