THE death toll in the explosion of violence in Iraq continued to climb last night as coalition forces lost control of three southern cities.

A year ago today, Allied soldiers were celebrating as the symbolic statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down in Baghdad.

But last night an end to the fighting appeared increasingly distant as hundreds more British troops headed for Iraq.

The uprising was gathering pace with Shi'ite militants, led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, holding Kut and controlling part of Najaf.

Militiamen were also reportedly in control of police stations and government buildings in Kufa.

The fighting this week has left 36 Americans and at least 459 Iraqis dead.

In a worrying development yesterday, the US military commander in Iraq, Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, said there appeared to be low-level links between the Shi'ite militia and the Sunni fighters.

Lt-Gen Sanchez said coalition troops were already being deployed around Iraq to prepare for battle. Forces will want to retake Najaf, Kufa and Kut.

He also vowed to destroy al-Sadr's militia.

At home, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said US forces were fuelling violence by "acting like warriors".

Mr Cook, who quit the Cabinet over the war, called for a fundamental change of tactics from confrontation to peacekeeping.

He was speaking after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insisted fighting was not spiralling out of control.

However, Mr Cook said: "There is no point in saying we are going to stay the course if we are on the wrong course.

"The US forces have got to stop acting like warriors and start acting like peacekeepers. Whenever they fly over townships and fire missiles into those townships then they are convincing everybody in them that they are the enemy."

Mr Cook's warning came amid reports that more than 280 Iraqis were killed and 400 wounded this week in the US marines' siege of Fallujah.

The assault began early on Monday when marines surrounded the city of 200,000 people. Since then, the US has used warplanes and tanks against Sunni insurgents.

Mr Cook said the coalition's tactics were fuelling support for both Sunni and Shi'ite extremists.

"What we have done over the last few days, I fear, is we have increased the strength of the militants and we have cut the ground from underneath the moderates, which is the last thing we should be doing," he said.

President Bush and Tony Blair insist the increasing violence will not stop the handover of power to an interim Iraqi authority on June 30.

Mr Blair will travel to the US next week for talks. The Prime Minister will meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York before travelling to Washington to see Mr Bush.

Last night, the head of a British security firm working in Iraq said the situation was becoming dramatically more dangerous for civilians.

John Davidson said his firm was preparing in case there was a civil war.