Three U.S. troops died and two others were hurt by small arms fire in north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Thursday. The attack occurred when the troops were conducting operations in Salahudin province on Wednesday, a military statement said.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the drop in attacks across Iraq and called for similar improvements in the political arena. In his report, Ban said "the reduction in the overall number of attacks reported across Iraq is a welcome development."
According to him, continued improvement in the security situation will depend on engagement by Iraqi security forces and the US-led multinational force, an extension of the six-month ceasefire announced last August by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia, and developments related to the Awakening Councils, Sunni Arab groups that switched sides to join US forces against al Qaida in Iraq.
The secretary-general cautioned, however, that attacks causing mass casualties "are a sobering reminder that those using terrorism in pursuit of their political aims have no regard for human rights or human life."
"In order to sustain recent improvements in the security situation, similar improvements in the political arena are needed," Ban said. And he lamented that "to date, the political process has not shown the degree of progress that many had hoped for."
