Deaths rise among Iraqi security forces

BAGHDAD - The number of Iraqi security forces killed in September rose by nearly a third, to 159, compared with the same period last year, Associated Press figures showed yesterday. U.S. troop deaths for the same period fell by nearly 40 percent, to 25.

The figures are a sign that the U.S. military is increasingly relying on the Iraqis, including U.S.-allied Sunni fighters, to take the lead in operations so they can assume responsibility for their own security and let the Americans eventually withdraw.

Overall civilian casualty figures remained relatively low despite a spate of attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which ends this week.

But even as Iraqi security forces are taking the lead and violence in the country has plunged 80 percent over the last 15 months, cautious Pentagon leaders have resisted calls for more rapid and hefty troop pullouts.

Instead, top commanders insist the security situation remains fragile and the improvements reversible. One potential source of conflict comes this week, when the Shiite-led government begins to assume authority over tens of thousands of Sunni fighters who turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Six U.S. Army brigades, a National Guard unit, and three military headquarters have been ordered to deploy to Iraq next summer, the Pentagon announced yesterday, in a move that would allow the United States to keep the number of troops largely steady there through much of next year.

There are about 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. At least 4,176 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003.

In the latest attack on U.S. troops, an American soldier was killed by small-arms fire yesterday in northern Baghdad - one of only eight U.S. deaths during fighting in September. The rest were a result of noncombat incidents, including seven who died in a helicopter crash and several in vehicle accidents.

That was in sharp contrast to the number of Iraqi security forces who were killed in attacks. At least 159 Iraqi police, soldiers and Sunni armed guards who have joined forces with the Americans against al-Qaeda in Iraq were killed in September, 33 percent more than the 120 killed in September 2007, according to AP figures that are based on reports from police and hospital officials.

"You have more security forces taking a more active role, and they're more likely to be in harm's way," said John Pike, a defense analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org.

Col. Jerry O'Hara, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, lauded the efforts of the Iraqi security forces and the Sunni groups known as the Sons of Iraq. "The efforts of the Iraqi security forces and the Sons of Iraq are two of the biggest factors in the increase in security," he said in an e-mail statement.

At least 503 Iraqis were killed in September, a more than 50 percent drop compared with 1,023 reported last September, according to AP figures. That was a slight increase from the 475 Iraqi deaths in August.