DIWANIYAH, Iraq — Iraq hopes to have control over security across the country by the end of the year, national-security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said Wednesday, as U.S.-led forces handed over responsibility for the southern province of Qadisiyah to local authorities.
Al-Rubaie’s comments reflect the Iraqi government’s growing confidence in the abilities of its security forces since a string of operations this year to assert authority over parts of the country that had been in the hands of Sunni Arab and Shiite Muslim militants.
The government is pressing U.S. officials for a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces.
“We will be very joyous when the last foreign soldier leaves Iraq,” al-Rubaie said at a ceremony marking the handover Wednesday in the provincial capital, Diwaniyah. “And we will tell them thank you for liberating Iraq and for supporting our forces in achieving stability.”
The handover comes at a time when the number of attacks nationwide has dropped to its lowest level since 2004, according to U.S. military statistics. But bombings in central and northern Iraq in recent months have underscored the persistent threat posed by insurgents.
A car bomb exploded Wednesday near a crowded market in Tall Afar, killing at least 15 people and injuring 90, police said. Another car bomb exploded in nearby Mosul, killing two people and injuring eight others, police said.
The U.S. military also announced the deaths of two service members: a soldier killed Tuesday by a bomb rigged to a house in Diyala province and a Marine killed in combat the previous day in Anbar province.
