CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — U.S. officials have noted an increase in attacks against Iraq’s police and military in an area south of Baghdad, even as violence nationwide has dropped to levels of mid-2003, military officers said today.
The spike in attacks, however, has not risen to a level that it would affect U.S. military plans to continue turning over more responsibility to the Iraqis, Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Army Europe, was told during a short trip to Iraq visiting Europe-based units.
The area is mostly Shiite but with large Sunni communities in towns closer to Baghdad.
Despite the local increase, military spokesman Maj. Gen. David Perkins told reporters that the number of attacks nationwide has dropped to its lowest levels since the months following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Perkins also said the numbers of American troops, Iraqi security forces and civilians killed also have dropped dramatically since the height of violence.
Violence continues however and in the northern city of Mosul a bomb apparently targeting a passing U.S. patrol exploded, killing three children on their way back from school, according to an Iraqi security official.
In another attack, a local U.S.-allied Sunni fighter was killed by an unidentified gunman just north of Baghdad, according to second official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Iraq’s security forces as well as their tribal allies are increasingly bearing the brunt of militant attacks.
Ham visited with the Baumholder, Germany-based 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat team, which is responsible for the southern Rashid area of Baghdad, and a belt around the south of the Iraqi capital that includes Baghdad International Airport.
Since the unit arrived early last year, attacks on U.S. forces in the area have fallen by about half, from a little less than one a day to less than one every two days.
In the last month, however, there have been increased attacks on Iraqi and police leadership, largely using magnetic mines targeting specific vehicles, brigade intelligence officer Maj. Pat Kaune told Ham.
Al-Qaida in Iraq and Shiite militia groups appear to be trying to re-establish themselves in the area, he said.
But, he added, “We don’t see any trends that are cause for concern that the ISF (Iraqi security forces) can’t handle.”
In Iraq as a whole, the U.S. military reports it has seen attacks on its forces drop from about 450 per week at the start of 2008 to about 100 per week for the last three months.
At the same time, trained Iraqi army forces are now up to some 220,000, while the police forces have grown to 382,000 people — a total of about 200,000 more police and military personnel than at the start of 2007, according to the U.S. military.
The level of their professionalism also has improved significantly, said Lt. Col. Wayne Marotto, a public affairs officer for the 2nd Brigade at Camp Striker.
“The Iraqi security fracas are going to step up, because they are capable of protecting their country,” he said. “They’re doing in independent operations as it is. We’re still going to have to assist them … but when it comes to the heavy fighting, they’re going to handle that. In the last two years, they’ve come a long way.”
Amid the improving security situation, Iraq also has seen better relations with its neighbors.
Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi’s office announced that Turkey’s president promised to double the allocation of water from the Tigris and Euphrates to Iraq.
The announcement came after Turkish President Abdullah Gul spent two days meeting with Iraqi officials in Baghdad.
The Tigris and the Euphrates begin in Turkey, which has reduced flow of the rivers through dams, cutting the amount that reaches Iraq. Water has long been a source of tension between the two countries.
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