Violence in Baghdad has dropped by nearly half since July, after US-led forces launched an operation to pacify the capital, a US general said on Monday, while acknowledging a spike in bombings in the past 48 hours.
US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell also said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would assume operational control of Iraq's armed forces next month in what he called a significant step toward Iraq taking responsibility for its security.
Caldwell hinted at a looming confrontation between US and Iraqi forces and the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr, whose Sadr City slum stronghold has not yet been targeted in Operation Together Forward. "The intention is for Iraqi security forces to operate through the entire city of Baghdad," Caldwell told journalists.