The US is planning to move Sunni tribal militiamen into troubled areas of Baghdad to participate in American military operations, according to an Arabic-language news report, as controversy over US backing of tribal fighters boils on.

A source inside the Iraqi Interior Ministry has told Al-Melaf that the ministry has obtained information about the existence of an American plan to send Sunni tribal fighters to at least four Baghdad districts.

Al-Melaf’s correspondent reported that there are four brigades completing their training and equipment now in order to be prepared to take on their role in some of Baghdad’s areas.

These tribal fighters are to be under the direct command of the American military, and that they will participate in US forces military operations.

The tribal forces, according to al-Melaf’s correspondent will deploy in at least four areas of the capital, including Palestine Street, Waziriya, and two as-yet unspecified Baghdad districts.

The unconfirmed report, if true, could escalate the ongoing dispute between the uniformed Iraqi security forces and the US over its policy of arming Iraqi tribal fighters.

The central Iraqi government claims the right to oversee all security forces in most of Iraq, and reports of tensions between US-backed tribal militias and the uniformed Iraqi security forces have surfaced as the controversy mounts.

In this sense, it is significant in itself that the Interior Ministry is the source of the leak about alleged US plans to move tribal forces into the capital.

Meanwhile, the US points to its alleged successes against al-Qa'ida and other related militants in Anbar province as a model for other parts of Iraq.

In a separate report, al-Melaf writes in Arabic that a “security official” has noted that the number of corpses recovered outside of Baghdad has increased remarkably in the last three weeks.

The unidentified “security official” reportedly told the news agency and that these victims tend to be Shi'a, and that the acts of violence often happen in areas where the US has armed tribesmen.

The security official added that the Iraqi police receive “daily complaints” from the families of the victims, and from eyewitnesses, claiming that members of police forces assembled from Iraqi tribesmen, and from members of the deposed Ba'thist regime, are responsible for the killings.

The Interior Ministry has submitted a complaint to the US command on this matter, al-Melaf writes, but has not received a response.

The security official referred to the tribal forces as “new militias,” armed and supported by the Americans, al-Melaf writes.

As the dispute wears on, it seems the US will find itself torn between two allies, both of questionable reliability: The predominantly Sunni Arab tribal forces, who are increasingly distrusted by the Iraqi security forces as their power grows, and the uniformed Iraqi security services based in the Interior and Defense Ministries, also known for being heavily infiltrated by Shi'a militiamen.

The New York Times reported this week that US forces have had to repeatedly physically intervene in disputes between tribal militiamen and Iraqi security forces in one area just west of Baghdad.