BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani predicted Wednesday that Iraqi forces would take over security functions in all of the country's provinces by year's end even as thousands of American troops began an attempt to reimpose order on an unruly capital and nearly 30 Iraqis were killed in attacks across the country by insurgents.

Iraqis Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds have been locked in an often violent struggle for power since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. U.S. military commanders have begun the process of moving 3,700 soldiers from the Alaska-based 172nd Stryker Brigade from Mosul to the capital in an effort to buttress Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, roadside bombs placed at a soccer field and police station parking lot killed 12 Iraqis and injured 13 Wednesday in the southwestern Al-Amel neighborhood, a religiously mixed hotspot.

Mortar shells landed in a dusty field in southern Baghdad, killing three children 12 to 14 years old and injuring three people in a nearby house. The field is used by children for soccer and is in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood in the mostly Sunni district of Dora.

Another roadside bomb exploding near a group of day laborers killed three and injured eight.

A car bomb in Mosul killed five Iraqi soldiers and injured four while another bomb near Kirkuk killed two and injured four. In Diyala province, gunmen shot dead a leading traffic police official and one of his guards.

Despite an upsurge in sectarian and insurgent violence, Talabani cited unspecified “progress” on security issues. “We are still in need of certain equipment,” he told reporters. “We need time and cooperation from the public to be able to eliminate terrorism.”

Special correspondents in Kirkuk and Mosul contributed to this report.

AP-NY-08-02-06 1813EDT