Violence in Iraq during Ramadan has fallen by almost 40 per cent from last year, the US military said on last night, despite a warning from al-Qaeda that it would increase attacks during the Muslim holy month.
US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox said a "surge" of 30,000 extra troops into Iraq this year and the new tactic of moving soldiers into small combat outposts instead of "commuting to the war" from large bases had helped bring down violence.
"We are substantially below last year's level. As a matter of fact, in comparison to this time last year, about 38 per cent lower in terms of Ramadan violence levels," he told a news conference, adding that that overall levels were still too high.
With evidence pointing to a drop in violence since the extra troops were deployed, the US embassy in Iraq issued a strongly worded statement criticising a US Senate resolution calling for separate Sunni Arab, Shia and Kurdish federal regions.
"Attempts to partition or divide Iraq by intimidation, force or other means into three separate states would produce extraordinary suffering and bloodshed," the embassy said. "Our goal in Iraq remains ... a democratic, federal Iraq that can govern, defend, and sustain itself."
The US Senate passed a non-binding resolution last Wednesday which called for "a federal system of government and ... federal regions". It was rejected by the Iraqi government and other critics as an attempt to partition the country.
Iraq's 2005 constitution allows for possible federal structures. The northern Kurdistan region has significant autonomy, although majority Shias and minority Sunni Arabs oppose greater federalism as a step towards dividing Iraq.
In northern Mosul, police said 11 hand-cuffed bodies, all showing signs of torture, were found dumped in one place. All had been shot. Another five bodies were found in Baghdad.
The US military said its forces killed 20 suspected insurgents after a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire targeted a US aircraft northwest of Baghdad on Saturday.
Al-Qaeda said at the start of Ramadan, more than two weeks ago, that it would escalate attacks and would target tribal leaders who were cooperating with security forces.