LATEST DEVELOPMENTS \ At a glance

Soldiers’ tours of duty: The Army’s top civilian leader said Thursday he sees “no possibility” of extending soldiers’ 15-month Iraq tours, reflecting concern about mounting strains on soldiers and their families as well as an emerging expectation that the troop buildup in Iraq can be reversed next year. In an Associated Press interview, Army Secretary Pete Geren said that regardless of near-term changes in Iraq, the Army must find new ways to adjust to the pressures of engaging in a global war against extremism, which he described as a “persistent conflict” that could last two decades. In recent weeks some Army officials have said they could not rule out extending the tours beyond 15 months. But Geren was unequivocal in stating the Army was not considering it. “We see no possibility we’d be going beyond 15 months,” he said. “Our goal is to move it the other direction — move it back to 12 months.” He added later, “Fifteen months is asking more than we want to ask of our soldiers and their families over the long term.”

Village attack kills 32: An insurgent attack Thursday on a Sunni sheik who has cooperated with U.S. forces escalated into an extended street battle involving the sheik’s militiamen, local villagers and Iraqi forces, according to police and the U.S. military. Thirty-two people were killed and 15 kidnapped, police said. Residents of a village near Baqouba apparently heard the initial commotion and took up their weapons to fight the attackers, who were members of the insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a spokesman for the U.S. military units. “The villagers came together and started fighting off al-Qaida in Iraq,” Donnelly said. “It’s another sign of people not putting up with” the group’s violence. The sheik was killed and his mosque was destroyed, Donnelly said. The 15 people kidnapped by the insurgents appeared to be women and children.

Wants to send message: Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., the influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Thursday urged President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq to send a message that the U.S. is running out of patience with the Baghdad government. Warner, who has been critical of the troop buildup ordered by Bush in January, said he was not ready to back a Democratic-led effort in Congress to order troop withdrawals.

Iran’s help: Iranian soldiers crossed into Iraq on Thursday and attacked several small villages in the northeastern Kurdish region, local officials said. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said he couldn’t confirm the attacks, but five Kurdish officials said that troops had infiltrated Iraqi territory and fired on villages.

Source: Combined dispatches