U.S. soldier, 20 Iraqis die in violence

‘Terrorist attacks’ are down 85 percent from last year, the Iraqi military said.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombs and bullets took a bloody toll Wednesday, killing 20 Iraqis and a U.S. soldier, even as military officials reported a sharp fall in attacks over the past year — a decline reflected in a steep decrease in violent deaths tallied by The Associated Press.

Lessening violence has been attributed mainly to the 2007 U.S. troop surge, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and government crackdowns on Sunni extremists and Shiite militias. But the U.S. general who led efforts to train Iraq’s army and police units warned Wednesday that progress is mixed and long-term American help will be needed.

The spate of bombings Wednesday came a day after Iraqi officials stepped up pressure on Washington to agree to a specific time line for withdrawing U.S. troops, in a sign of the government’s growing confidence amid falling violence.

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 last month, compared with 160 during June 2007, an Iraqi army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, said at a news conference. He did not provide details on the individual attacks included in the figures.

Meanwhile, an Associated Press count showed the number of Iraqi civilians and security personnel killed in June was down 66 percent from the same month a year earlier, dropping to 554 from 1,642.

The AP tallies civilian, Iraqi military and Iraqi police deaths each day as reported by police, hospital officials, morgue workers and verifiable witness accounts. Security personnel include Iraqi military, police and police recruits, bodyguards, and Awakening Council members.

In Washington, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik, who oversees training of Iraqi soldiers and police, presented a cautious tone on Iraq’s improved security.

Since he took on that job in June 2007, Iraq’s security forces have grown from 444,000 to 566,000 and are better able to execute operations on their own, Dubik said. But he added that the fast-growing force still lacks experienced leaders and the ability to train all its new recruits.

“As I often said to my command in Baghdad, ‘Progress doesn’t result in no problems, it results in new problems,”’ Dubik said in written testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.

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