Extended stay for U.S. troops in Mosul?

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Instability linked to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul means U.S. combat forces may stay active in the region through the summer, commanders said.

Violence in Iraq is escalating as the country braces for March parliamentary elections. Security officials put Baghdad on lockdown this week out of fear of militant attacks. Gunmen, meanwhile, stormed a restaurant in Mosul on Thursday, wounding one in the attack.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, who commands the U.S. military unit in northern Iraq, said he expects the region will need additional combat support through the summer months, the Pentagon said.

Mosul has simmered in violence since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Cucolo said al-Qaida is trying to regain the upper hand in the north as there is no "Iraqi police primacy in Mosul yet."

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, considered troop increases in Mosul and Baqubah ahead of a June 2009 deadline for combat forces to pull back to their military bases.

U.S. combat forces are scheduled to leave Iraq by August 2010 while U.S. President Barack Obama shifts the military's focus to Afghanistan. An agreement between the U.S. and Iraqi governments states that all U.S. troops must leave Iraq before the close of 2011.

Cucolo said he sees progress happening on the security front but warned "it's just not there yet."