Pentagon Report: Attacks in 2007 at record high

Victims walk away from a car bomb attack today in Baghdad.

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - Violence in Iraq jumped to another record high early in 2007 and a largely sectarian struggle for power is now the main feature of the war, the Pentagon said report released on Wednesday.

"The conflict in Iraq has changed from a predominantly Sunni-led insurgency against foreign occupation to a struggle for the division of political and economic influence among sectarian groups and organized criminal activity," the Pentagon said in its quarterly report on Iraq to the U.S. Congress.

There were an average of 1,047 attacks per week on U.S-led forces and Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians in January and early February, according to statistics released with the report.

That figure compared to an average 904 attacks per week from late May 2006 to the end of the year.

The report also noted that the figure represented only incidents observed by or reported to U.S.-led forces so it could "only provide a partial picture of the violence experienced by Iraqis."

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