US to expand Iraq lock-ups to hold 16,000 detainees

The US military said it planned to expand its prisons across Iraq to hold as many as 16,000 detainees, as the relentless insurgency showed no sign of relenting one year after the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi authorities.

The plans were announced yesterday, a day after three US Army soldiers were killed – two pilots whose helicopter crashed north of Baghdad and a soldier who was shot in the capital. At least four Iraqis died in a car bomb attack in the capital.