The US military announced the deaths of ten soldiers in Iraq today, reflecting a spike in violence that could make this October one of the bloodiest months for American troops in the three-and-a-half year war.

All ten deaths occurred yesterday: four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb west of Baghdad; three died in a gun battle in Diyala, a province east of the capital, while two soldiers were killed in separate ambushes in the north of the city. A Marine died of wounds sustained during fighting in the dangerous western province of Al Anbar.

As of today, 62 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq this month. Should the casualties continue to mount at this rate, October 2006 will become the worst month for the US military since January 2005, when 107 US soldiers died. November 2004, with a toll of 137 and April, 2004, with 135, remain the worst months on record.

The heavy death toll coincides with intense debate in Washington over the future of the war in the run-up to November's congressional mid-term elections. This week leaks from the Iraq Study Group, a panel of experts led by James Baker, a former US Secretary of State and close ally of the Bush family, have suggested that the White House seek a new direction in the war.

On the ground in Iraq, US commanders have attributed the increased casualty rate to the annual surge in violence during the holy month of Ramadan and new, aggressive tactics undertaken towards insurgents.

But the deaths have come against a backdrop of incessant sectarian strife among Iraqis. More than 2,600 Iraqi civilians were killed in bombings and gun attacks in Baghdad during September alone.

The Iraqi Government said today that will hold a national conference to stem fighting between the country's Sunni and Shia populations on November 4. The meeting was originally intended to take place this Friday but had been postponed for "emergency reasons".

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al Maliki, was appointed to head of a national unity government four months ago, but despite much-vaunted measures to bring order to Baghdad and a 24-point plan to bring the country's divided communities together, he has managed to win the confidence of few leaders, with many now questioning his coalition's plans for an Iraq of 18 federally-governed provinces.

In one of the worst recent outbreaks of internecine violence, which occurred last weekend in the town of Balad, about an hour's drive north of Baghdad, more than 100 people were killed in tit-for-tat attacks.

US forces handed Balad over to Iraq's new, coalition-trained 4th Army last month, but have resumed patrols in the town this week. Today, local Sunni and Shiite leaders were meeting to try and find out what happened to more than 40 people who disappeared on Sunday.

A 13-car convoy full of Sunnis escaping Balad is believed to have stopped at a Shia checkpoint on Sunday afternoon and been directed to a Shia militia base on the outskirts of Balad, in al-Nebaiya. It has never been seen again.

In other violence today, a bomb planted on the main highway between the cities Amarah and Basra killed Ali Qassim al-Tamimi, the head of intelligence for the Maysan provincial police force, along with four bodyguards, said Captain Hussein Karim of the Maysan police. Maysan, a small, lawless region north of Basra, is one of two provinces under British control in southern Iraq. There are plans to hand it over to Iraqi forces before the end of the year.

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