THE US will pull 12,000 troops from Iraq over the next six months as part of the Obama administration’s promised withdrawal of all combat forces by August next year, military chiefs announced yesterday.
The troops will likely be removed from Anbar and Baghdad provinces, and US combat brigades will drop from 14 to 12 over the next six months, they said.
In addition, Iraqi and US officials confirmed Britain’s remaining 4,000 troops would leave by the end of July.
But the security challenges the occupying forces will leave behind were underscored yesterday when a suicide bomber killed about 30 people and wounded dozens more in the worst attack for weeks in the Iraqi capital.
The attacker detonated an explosive vest as he drove a motorcycle into a group of police officers and recruits waiting at a side entrance of Baghdad’s police academy. One police recruit, Haitham Fadhel, told reporters he was knocked unconscious by the blast. “We were feeling secure as we were waiting in a well-guarded area,” he said. “Before the explosion occurred, I heard a loud shout saying ‘Stop, stop, where are you going?’ Seconds later, a huge explosion shook the area.”
While the academy has been targeted in the past by bombings, US officials say overall violence in Iraq has fallen by 90 per cent since the peak of the post-invasion insurgency.
About 140,000 US troops are stationed in Iraq. Between 35,000 and 50,000 are due to remain beyond next year's deadline in non-combat roles, supporting their Iraqi counterparts. – ( Guardianservice)