Petraeus: US troops already out of most Iraqi cities

"He said combat troops continued to be in Baghdad, Salaheddin, Diyala and Nineveh where US-led forces are actively chasing insurgents, Al-Qaeda extremists and Shiite militias.

"Even in Tamim (Nineveh), we are largely in the periphery of different cities," Petraeus said.

Iraq has already taken security control of 11 of the 18 provinces in the country with two more provinces, Wasit and Babel, to be handed over to Baghdad by US forces in the near future."