Attacks have fallen up to 80 percent in Baghdad and concrete blast walls that divide the capital could soon be removed, a senior Iraqi military official said on Saturday. According to Reuters, Lieutenant-General Abboud Qanbar conveyed the success of a year-long clampdown named "Operation Imposing Law" had reined in the violence between Shi'ites and Sunnis.
"In a time when you could hear nothing but explosions, gunfire and the screams of mothers and fathers and sons, and see bodies that were burned and dismembered, the people of Baghdad were awaiting Operation Imposing Law," Qanbar told reporters. He pointed to the number of dead bodies turning up on the capital's streets as an indicator of success.
In the six weeks to the end of 2006, an average of 43 bodies were found dumped in the city each day. That figure fell to four a day in 2008, in the period up to Feb. 12, said Qanbar. "Various enemy activities" had declined by between 75 and 80 percent since the security plan was implemented, he said.
To demonstrate how life had improved, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki toured parts of the city on Saturday, inspecting Iraqi forces and checkpoints. "He wanted ... to send a message to the terrorists that security in Baghdad is prevailing now," one official said.
