Iraq still in low-level war, says watchdog

BAGHDAD: Violence in Iraq dropped in 2012, data released yesterday showed, but insurgents proved they were still capable of mounting waves of attacks and a watchdog warned the country was still in a “low-level war”.
The warnings were punctuated by a series of nationwide shootings and bombings on New Year’s Eve in which 28 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded.
The latest violence came after more than a week of non-stop anti-government protests.
A total of 144 people were killed across Iraq last month, including 40 policemen and 15 soldiers, and 360 others were wounded, according to figures compiled by AFP based on reports from security and medical officials. The monthly death toll was near 2012’s low of 136 set in October.
And data released by Iraq’s ministries of health, interior and defense said 2,174 people were killed throughout last year, sharply lower than in previous years, particularly compared to the height of the country’s brutal sectarian war from 2005 to 2008 when tens of thousands were killed.
But Britain-based monitor group Iraq Body Count put the overall death toll at 4,471, more than double the official figures, though the last three months of 2012 represented a record low.
US troops withdrew in December 2011, though a small contingent of around 150 soldiers remains as part of a bilateral agreement to help train and supply Iraq’s security forces.
Baghdad’s police and military are widely agreed to be largely able to maintain internal security, but are not expected to be fully capable of defending Iraq’s borders, airspace and waters until 2020.