BAGHDAD — Violence in Iraq is at its lowest levels since the first year of the American invasion, finally opening a window for reconciliation among rival sects, the second-ranking U.S. general said Sunday.
Also Sunday, in northern Iraq, Turkey bombed several villages in efforts to strike Kurdish revels, and in the south, British forces handed over the control of security of Basra province to Iraqi authorities.
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the man responsible for the ground campaign in Iraq, said that the first six months of 2007 were probably the most violent period since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The past six months, however, had seen some of the lowest levels of violence since the conflict began, Odierno said, attributing the change to an increase in both American troops and better-trained Iraqi forces.
“I feel we are back in ‘03 and early ‘04. Frankly, I was here then and the environment is about the same in terms of security in my opinion,” he said. “What is different from then is that the Iraqi security forces are significantly more mature.”
Odierno said Anbar province, once plagued by violence, only recorded 12 attacks in the past week, down from an average of 26 per week over the past three months.
“The violence last week was the lowest ever,” he said of Anbar.
“So that kind of defines 2007 very simply. A long hard fight and a lot of sacrifice by a lot of soldiers, Marines and airmen to get there,” Odierno said.
In northern Iraq, Turkish jets bombed several villages early Sunday in the most aggressive action in years against Kurdish rebels who take sanctuary in the Kurdistan border region of Iraq.
Local officials said at least one civilian was killed and several wounded. The pro-Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Firat News agency said many of the damaged buildings were schools and homes.
The targeted towns included Suradeh, a hamlet of about 30 homes nestled in the Qandil mountains more than 50 miles from the Turkish border. Sunday afternoon, residents who had sought shelter in frigid mountain caves during the overnight bombardment returned to a scene of damaged homes and dead livestock. Many were packing up and leaving in fear of additional attacks.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned of more military assaults against the PKK, which has fought the Turkish government since 1984 for a separate Kurdish state.
The Reuters news agency quoted Turkey’s top military commander, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, as saying the United States approved the raid. Washington has denied Turkish claims it gave the green light to previous raids.
Some U.S. officials have suggested in the past that they would not oppose Turkish strikes on the PKK, as long as they did not involve occupation of Iraqi territory.
During a low-key ceremony Sunday, Britain formally handed over control of security responsibility for Basra province to Iraqi authorities, marking a significant step toward Iraqi sovereignty.
Basra is the last of four southern provinces under British control to be returned to the Iraqis. Britain is expected to draw down its remaining 4,500 troops to about 2,500 by spring. They will enter Basra city, Iraq’s second-largest, only when a crisis occurs that exceeds the capacity of the Iraqi security forces, British officials said.
“I came to rid Basra of its enemies, and I now come to hand back Basra to its friends,” said Maj. Gen. Graham Binns, the British general officer commanding.
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