Italy is to send Mangusta attack helicopters to Iraq as violence goes on in the country ahead of its Jan. 30 elections, the La Stampa newspaper reported Sunday.

"Based on the worsening situation we have been evaluating, already for some time, sending the Mangusta helicopters into the field," General Filiberto Cicci, the top military officer overseeing the Italian mission in Iraq, said in an interview with the paper.

The A-129 Mangusta is an Italian-made combat helicopter equipped with anti-tank missiles and a 20mm machinegun. Italy currently has 10 helicopters in Iraq, most of them the AB-412 type-- mainly used for reconnaissance.

Insurgents' attacks have been mounting recently in Iraq as elections scheduled for Jan. 30 are drawing.

At least 12 people were killed and dozens of others injured Sunday in a hospital fire in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah,which is manned by Italian troops.

On Friday, an Italian soldier was killed when his helicopter came under fire in southern Iraq.

While several Iraqi political parties, mainly from the Sunnis, have called to put off the polls, Italian Defense Minister AntonioMartino said Thursday the postponement would hand a victory to insurgents who are staging violence in a bid to prevent the elections from taking place. Enditem