Iraq 'more deadly' than year ago

30 July 2011 Last updated at 15:18 GMT Nearly a dozen civilians die violent deaths in Iraq every day A top US adviser on Iraq has accused the US military of glossing over an upsurge in violence, just months before its troops are due to be withdrawn.

Iraq is more dangerous now than a year ago, said a report issued by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart W Bowen Junior.

He said the killing of US soldiers and senior Iraqi figures, had risen, along with attacks in Baghdad .

The report contradicts usually upbeat assessments from the US military.

It comes as Washington is preparing to withdraw its remaining 47,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year, despite fears that the Iraqi security forces might not be ready to take over fully.

Assassinations

"Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work," Mr Bowen concluded in his quarterly report to Congress. "It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago."

The report cited the deaths of 15 US soldiers in June - the bloodiest month for the American military in two years - but also said more Iraqi officials had been assassinated in the past few months than in any other recent period.

While the efforts of Iraqi and American forces may have reduced the threat from the Sunni-based insurgency, Shia militias are believed to have become more active, it said.

Responsibility for training Iraqi forces will fall to the US State Department after the pullout

They are being blamed for the deaths of American soldiers, and for an increase in rocket attacks on the Baghdad international zone and the US embassy compound.

Additionally, the report called the north-eastern province of Diyala, which borders Iran, "very unstable" with frequent bombings that bring double-digit death tolls.

Mr Bowen accused the US military of glossing over the instability, noting an army statement in late May that described Iraq's security trends as "very, very positive" - but only when compared to 2007, when the country was on the brink of civil war.

A spokesman for the US army in Iraq declined to respond.

Stay or go?

The findings come in the middle of what the inspector called a "summer of uncertainty" in Baghdad over whether American forces will stay past a year-end withdrawal deadline and continue military aid for the unstable nation.

Although the US is preparing to withdraw all its remaining troops by the end of the year, in line with mutual agreements, the Obama administration has offered to leave 10,000 to help train the Iraqi forces.

That is politically highly controversial in Baghdad, where Nouri al-Maliki's Shia-dominated government, dependent on support from strongly anti-American elements, has not been able to produce a clear answer, says the BBC's Jim Muir from Beirut.

The situation is clearly very much better than it was at the height of the violence in 2006-7, our correspondent says.

In fact, the overall figures for Iraqi civilian deaths in the first six months of this year, collated by Iraqi Body Count, show a very slight improvement over last year.

But patterns of violence have changed, he adds. There are fewer big bomb explosions, but more targeted killings of Iraqi officials or security forces.

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Deadly bombings hit central Iraq

21 June 2011 Last updated at 14:19 GMT Footage shows the wreckage caused by the car bomb

At least 25 people have been killed in two car bomb attacks in Diwaniya in central Iraq, officials say.

The attacks targeted police barriers outside the compound of provincial governor Salim Hussein Alwan, who was unharmed.

Diwaniya is about 80 miles (130km) south of the capital, Baghdad.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from its peak in 2006, although deadly bombings and shootings still occur on a daily basis.

Most of the victims of the attacks in Diwaniya are reported to be policemen. Dozens more were reported to have been wounded.

A police official said it appeared the plan was for the bombs to explode as the governor left for work in his convoy of vehicles, but he had been delayed inside the compound.

Mr Alwan told the Associated Press news agency: "I was in the garage preparing to leave when the attacker hit the police barrier outside."

The second blast took place seconds later, officials said.

Images from the scene showed widespread damage to nearby buildings.

It was not immediately clear if the explosions took place at the same checkpoint or if both attackers died in the blasts.

Diwaniya is in a mainly Shia region and several of Iraq's armed groups are said to be active in the area.

Last week, gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a provincial council building in the city of Baquba, killing at least eight people.

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Gunmen in deadly Iraq city raid

14 June 2011 Last updated at 15:51 GMT Gunmen and suicide bombers have stormed an Iraqi provincial council building in the city of Baquba, killing at least eight people.

A car bomb and a suicide bomber opened the attack the main gate.

At least five gunmen then stormed the compound, and a second suicide bomber blew himself up in fighting with troops.

The incident followed a pattern similar to that used by al-Qaeda in attacks earlier in the year.

The council of Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad, was due to meet in Baquba when the building was attacked.

Witnesses spoke of clashes inside the compound between the insurgents, armed with machine guns, and Iraqi security forces.

At least three of the attackers are thought to be among the dead. At least 17 people were wounded.

The US military said in a statement that its forces had provided "observation support" from helicopters.

The assault mirrored a similar attack by al-Qaeda on the Salaheddin government offices in Tikrit on 29 March that left 58 people dead.

Baquba itself was last the object of two major attacks on police compounds in January.

Diyala province saw some fierce sectarian in 2006 and 2007, with a strong al Qaeda presence.

Violence remains routine but is now at a much lower level. The US is planning to withdraw its remaining 45,000 troops from Iraq by the end of this year.

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