Pat Dollard

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The Iraqi military said Wednesday that the number of “terrorist attacks” in June declined 85 percent from the same period a year ago.

An average of 25 attacks took place each day in June, compared with 160 during the same month in 2007, said Iraqi army spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi during a news conference. He did not provide details on the individual attacks included in the figures.

The second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq said Wednesday that the number of rocket and mortar attacks in Iraq that can be linked to Iranian-sponsored fighters has fallen in recent weeks.

Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin attributed the decline mainly to efforts by Iraqi forces to choke off radical elements of Shiite militias in the southern cities of Basra and Amarah.

Bombs killed 13 people, including four Iraqi policemen, in Iraq on Wednesday as military officials released data showing attacks have dropped sharply over the past year.
Violence in Iraq persists despite security gains that have been attributed to a range of factors, including the 2007 U.S. troop surge, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and government crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias.

In Washington, the U.S. general who led efforts to train Iraq’s army and police units said Wednesday that progress is mixed and long-term U.S. help is needed.

In Washington, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik said Iraq’s security forces have grown from 444,000 to 566,000 since he assumed command of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in June 2007 and are better able to execute operations on their own.

But the fast-growing force still lacks experienced leaders and the ability to train all its new recruits, Dubik told the House Armed Services Committee.

“As I often said to my command in Baghdad, ‘Progress doesn’t result in no problems, it results in new problems,’” he said in his written testimony.

Assailants killed a policeman Wednesday in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, where many insurgents are believed to have relocated after facing intense military pressure in Baghdad and other urban centers.

Police in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, said workers who were rebuilding a primary school discovered 22 bodies, most of them under concrete in a playing field. A police official, who earlier said only five bodies were discovered, said the remains were believed to have been buried more than a year ago.

Relatives of missing people were summoned to the site Tuesday. Those identified included a Muslim cleric whose wife recognized his clothes, the official said on condition of anonymity because of security reasons.

Ramadi, like Fallujah, was a stronghold of the Sunni-led insurgency, but violence there has dropped since Sunni tribal leaders and their fighters formed an alliance with the U.S. military.

(AP)