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US touts fall in Baghdad attacks | US touts fall in Baghdad attacks |
(20 minutes later) | |
Violence in Baghdad has fallen by 50% since the start of 2007, the deputy commander of US troops in Iraq says. | Violence in Baghdad has fallen by 50% since the start of 2007, the deputy commander of US troops in Iraq says. |
Lt Gen Ray Odierno said civilian casualties had dropped from 32 a day to 12 a day, but remained too high. | |
Correspondents say the fall is a result of the US "surge" of extra troops between February and June, which took US troop levels in Iraq to 168,000. | Correspondents say the fall is a result of the US "surge" of extra troops between February and June, which took US troop levels in Iraq to 168,000. |
However, a recent BBC/ABC poll of Iraqis found about 70% believe security had deteriorated since the US surge. | |
According to the poll, more than two-thirds said that in terms of security and the conditions for political dialogue, reconstruction and economic development the surge had made things worse. | According to the poll, more than two-thirds said that in terms of security and the conditions for political dialogue, reconstruction and economic development the surge had made things worse. |
Al-Qaeda 'in retreat' | |
The US said its assessment was based on statistics from military command centres and the Iraqi police and government. | |
Gen Odierno told a news conference in the capital: "We are starting to see a normalisation of life across Iraq and also in Baghdad." | |
Blackwater's operations in Iraq are now suspendedThe military commander said US and Iraqi forces were keeping al-Qaeda and other militant groups "off balance" by targeting key figures. | |
He said this had led to an increase in the discovery of weapons caches, which in turn resulted in a decrease in the number of attacks with improvised explosive devices. | |
The latest assessment comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Iraq's government, after 11 Iraqi civilians were killed when guards from the US security firm Blackwater opened fire in a busy Baghdad square on Sunday. | |
Blackwater says its guards acted in self-defence, but this has been disputed by Iraqi eyewitnesses. | |
US and Iraqi authorities say they have set up a joint investigative commission following the deadly shoot-out. |