IRAQ:Car bombs in Baghdad, which reached a record high last month, remain a serious concern despite a month-old crackdown, a US general said in a more sober assessment than one given by Iraqi officials yesterday.
Maj Gen William Caldwell said murders and executions in the capital had been halved since the Baghdad security plan began on February 14th but that "sensational" car bombs blamed on al-Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants had increased.
"We reached an all-time high there in February," Maj Gen Caldwell told a news conference, without providing a figure. He said US and Iraqi troops were investing tremendous efforts to find car-bomb factories in the Baghdad suburbs.
While Gen Caldwell said there had been a reduction in murders and executions since the plan got under way, he warned of a slight "uptick" of violence in the last seven days.
"We are concerned about any levels of violence that indicate an increase versus a decrease ... We are watching it very carefully," he said, adding it would take months before the plan makes a big difference in easing violence that has pushed Iraq to the brink of all-out sectarian war.
"The Iraqis have really shown restraint. They are not taking retribution," he said, referring to retaliatory sectarian violence that has followed previous car bomb attacks.
Earlier, Iraqi military officials offered a more positive report, saying civilian deaths and car bombs had fallen sharply in the first 30 days of the plan.
Iraqi military spokesman Brig Qassim Moussawi said that the number of Iraqis killed by violence in Baghdad between February 14th and March 14th had fallen to 265 from 1,440 and that car bombings were down to 36 from 56. US commanders had predicted that the plan, regarded as the last chance to avert all-out civil war, would bring a temporary dip in violence in Baghdad as militants changed tactics and launched attacks outside the Iraqi capital.
Yesterday a suicide bomber killed 10 people near Kirkuk.
The US military says the Mehdi Army Shia militia is the greatest threat to security. Its leaders are believed to have fled, including Moqtada al-Sadr, who may be in Iran. - ( Reuters )