WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Responding to increased attacks in Iraq, the US military will soon open a counterin surgency schoolin that country for officers, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

    The new facility, which will open in the next few days at the Taji base north of Baghdad, will train US battalion and company commanders immediately after they arrive in Iraq, according to thereport.

    It will operate like a clearinghouse where veteran commanders pass on the latest tactics and situations in the country.

    Among the lessons will be patrol methods, techniques to find and destroy roadside bombs, and education on the various insurgent factions.

    In the long term, it is hoped that the format can be passed on to the new Iraqi Army and security forces.

    At present, US soldiers and officers receive their counterin surgency instructions in the United States before shipping out to Iraq.

    However, some US senior commanders have expressed concern that the instruction has been uneven and lags behind the fast-changing tactics which insurgents use in Iraq.

    The new school, which will give intensive one-week course, reflects the efforts of the US military to try to focus officers immediately on the task on hand.

    The school opens at a time when US forces make no significant progress against the insurgents despite recent offensives by US troops and despite months of scrambling to train more Iraqi troops.

    At least 92 US soldiers were killed in October, the highest monthly toll since January. Enditem