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| Iraq |
| Iraqi commander of Baghdad forces: drop in violence in capital |
| 2007-10-25 |
| (KUNA) -- The Commander of the Baghdad Operations Staff Major General Abboud Canbar announced on Wednesday that terrorist acts by means of booby trapped cars and assassinations had dropped by 77 percent. Canbar, who was holding a press conference at the press center of the Multi-National Forces in Baghdad, said the Baghdad law-enforcement plan had paid dividends. He revealed a report, backed up with facts and figures on the drop in acts of violence in the Iraqi capital after the first eight months of the implementation of the Baghdad security plan, which kicked off in February this year. He noted that acts of violence against civilians had dropped by 59 percent and by 62 percent against Iraqi forces while the acts of assassination had dropped by 70 percent. He said the number of exploding tires had also dropped by 65 percent while the losses resulting from exploding tires dropped by 80 percent. He added up to 48 terrorists were killed in the law enforcement campaign, which kicked off on September 17 and continued till October 12. The campaign also paved the way for the return home of some 58 households, he said. Meanwhile, US Troops operations commander in Iraq General Raymond Oderno who was present at the press conference said US forces moved according to a general policy drawn in Washington with the aim of protecting Iraqi borders with Turkey. He said that, by the end of this year, Iraqi security forces would be able to handle 50 percent of law enforcement operations in Baghdad. He added that bomb attacks had dropped by 60 percent in and around the Iraqi capital. He said the lower incidence of violence was mainly due to reconciliations among warring tribes in and around the capital. He cited the most recent agreement, which was concluded among five of the Baghdad Sunni and Shiite tribes. However, he added that some tribes were obstinate and declined to get involved in any reconciliation. |
| Posted by:Fred |