US to withdraw 4,000 troops from Iraq

The military said it was pulling out troops deployed as part of a controversial "surge" of forces in February 2007.

The pullout is in line with US President George W Bush's plan announced in September to complete the withdrawal of the 30,000 extra troops he poured in last year to curb an increase in sectarian violence in Iraq.

The US military said that last week had seen the lowest level of violence in four years across Iraq, but gave no casualty figures.

Figures maintained by the independent website show that the number of US fatalities so far this month was 19, the lowest average since the American invasion in March 2003.

The total US losses in Iraq so far are 4,084.

Earlier this month, the United States said it had 152,500 troops deployed across Iraq together with an estimated 10,000 troops from other countries contributing soldiers to the US-led coalition.

Source: By DDNEWS