BAGHDAD — Iraqi military officials expressed hope Sunday that security gains from a yearlong crackdown against extremists will allow the removal of thousands of concrete barriers in six months that protect Baghdad residents from bomb attacks.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spent the weekend touting the successes of the security operation that began one year ago and peaked last summer with the influx of thousands of U.S. troops.
On Sunday, a female suicide bomber struck a Shiite neighborhood, detonating after soldiers fired three bullets at her.
Casualty figures were disputed. Two doctors and a police officer said four people were killed and 12 wounded. The U.S. military, however, said the only death in the explosion was the bomber, although two Iraqi soldiers were wounded.
