US President Barack Obama was briefed Friday on the latest bloodshed in Iraq, where a wave of attacks, including five car bombs, killed 58 people and wounded dozens more.
"I know that the president asked for and received some briefing on this, this morning," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
"We will certainly continue to monitor the situation," he added, stressing that the recent surge in violence in Iraq would not alter US plans to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by the end of August.
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Gibbs noted that General Ray Odierno, the US commander in Iraq, said as recently as last weekend that violence in the country would not knock the US military off-track from its schedule to end combat missions.
Obama has ordered all US combat troops withdrawn from Iraq by the end of August and all American soldiers to be out of the country by the end of 2011.
Attacks in Iraq on Friday killed 58 people, just days after Iraqi officials said Al-Qaeda was on the run.
The attacks wounded dozens more and underscored the unrest that continues to plague Iraq, where politicians are struggling to form a government, almost seven weeks after a general election seen as crucial to the country's long-term stability.
Gibbs said that the Obama administration would continue to press political leaders in Iraq to carry out the political steps that need to be taken to form a government.
The latest bloodshed in Iraq came in a week in which the White House hailed the killing of Al-Qaeda's two top leaders in the country as "potentially devastating blows" and praised the growing capacity of Iraqi security forces.
