BAGHDAD — Violent deaths of U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians appear to have fallen sharply in Iraq in October, according to the latest Associated Press tally.
The AP’s figures mirror other reports that the levels of bloodshed are falling here, but the meaning of these statistics is disputed, and experts generally agree that the struggle for security and stability is far from over.
The number of Iraqi civilians killed fell from at least 1,023 in September to at least 875 in October, according to the AP count.
That’s the lowest monthly toll for civilian casualties in the past year, and is down sharply from the 1,216 recorded in October 2006. The numbers are based on daily reports from police, hospital officials, morgue workers and witness accounts.
The count is considered a minimum based on AP reporting.
The drop in deaths among U.S. military personnel in Iraq was even more striking, according to AP’s records – down from 65 in September to at least 36 in October. The October figure is by far the lowest in the last year, and is sharply lower than the 106 deaths recorded in October 2006.
Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former editorial editor for The Wall Street Journal, said the apparent decline in deaths reflected the success of the buildup in Iraq of U.S. military personnel. But Anthony Cordesman, an expert on the Middle East and military affairs with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the numbers he’s seen so far don’t justify the conclusion that the overall level of fighting has fallen off, or that the number of civilian deaths is declining, because they don’t paint a full picture of the conflict.
The statistics don’t reflect attacks that result in injuries, he pointed out, nor is there reliable reporting of civilian deaths outside of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Britain’s defense secretary said Wednesday that his government intends to hand over security for the south of Iraq by mid-December, saying that Iraqi forces are now capable of dealing with the violence that persists there.
While he acknowledged that sectarian power struggles and gangsterism continue in oil-rich Basra province, Defense Secretary Des Browne said the Iraqis themselves are best able to address them now.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded in the Alawai neighborhood near the fortified Green Zone, killing one person and injuring four. The bodies of six unidentified victims of violence were found in the capital.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
