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WASHINGTON D.C. (February 1, 2008) - Attacks have dropped in
Baghdad to levels seen in 2005, a senior commander in Iraq said
today.
Coalition forces also are finding and clearing more bombs than
they have in the past four years, Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson,
chief of staff of Multinational Corps Iraq, told reporters in the
Pentagon via satellite from Camp Liberty, in Baghdad.
This comes on the heels of the new year's offensive, Operation
Phantom Phoenix, aimed at driving al Qaeda and other extremists
from safe havens in outlying provinces.
In the past week of operations, the overall number of attacks
nationwide remained down and below the average of the past three
months, Anderson said.
"The security situation today is about the same as we
experienced statistically in early 2005," the commander said.
Weekly attacks in the Baghdad security districts for the past 15
weeks matched levels last seen consistently in 2005. Bombings
increased last week, but remained below the long-term average for
the 23rd week in a row, he said. Throughout Iraq, weekly casualties
decreased by three percent last week, continuing to remain below
the long-term average for the 21st week in a row, Anderson said.
Civilian casualties have dropped from 1,700 in January 2007 to 170
this month.
Part of the success is due to locals being more willing to turn
over extremists' hideouts and weapons caches, Anderson said. As
local citizens feel more secure, they are coming forward with
information on extremists' activities in their villages and
provinces.
"The extremists' ability to intimidate the populous is clearly
diminishing. Iraqi citizens across the country are actively
engaging the extremists," Anderson said.
Concerned local citizens organized into neighborhood watch-type
groups now number about 80,000 across the country and are helping
fill critical security roles where they live, especially in areas
where there are few Iraqi security forces.
"We will not allow al Qaeda and other extremists to take
sanctuary in any part of the country," Anderson said. "We are not
leaving safe areas or holes. We will not give up gains already
achieved by the coalition."
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