Jalal Talabani

Iraq's President Jalal Talabani says Iraqi forces will take over security for all of the country by the end of this year.

Mr. Talabani, speaking to reporters in Baghdad Wednesday, did not go into detail, but he said he is optimistic that Iraq will defeat terrorism this year.

Currently, U.S. and British forces are responsible for security in most of Iraq.  

Recently, sectarian violence has escalated, mostly in Baghdad.  At the end of July, the U.S. military said 3,700 additional American troops would be repositioned to Baghdad in an attempt to reduce the violence.

A senior U.S. military officer involved in training Iraq's army (Colonel Juan Ayala) told VOA it will take years before Iraq's new security forces can control the country on their own.

In other news, Iraqi authorities say three bomb blasts in central Baghdad today killed three Iraqi civilians and wounded nine others.

Iraq is still investigating a series of explosions in Baghdad and northern Iraq on Tuesday that killed more than 50 Iraqis.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has come under increasing criticism because of its failure to suppress violent attacks.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.