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Iraqi death toll falls to 22-month low, say US officials

The toll of Iraqis killed last month fell to a 22-month low, officials said yesterday, confirming a trend of declining violence across the country in the past six months. Combined figures obtained from the defense, interior and health ministries showed that a total of 568 Iraqis -- 480 civilians, 24 soldiers and 64 policemen -- were killed in last month.

The figure is down from 606 in November, 887 in October and 840 in September. Mirroring the fall in civilian deaths, combat deaths among US troops in Iraq also dropped to a 22-month low at 21 last month, according to a tally based on Pentagon figures.

US military commanders say attacks of all types are down 60 percent, after peaking in June, to levels not seen since before February last year, when a wave of sectarian violence was unleashed by the bombing of a Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra.

Iraqi and US officials attribute the drop in violence to a "surge" of an extra 28,500 US troops in Iraq, the formation by Sunni leaders of anti-al-Qaeda fronts, and Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's freezing of the activities of his Mahdi Army militia.
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