Report: Militant attacks hit 4-year low

BAGHDAD, May 25 (UPI) -- The number of attacks by militants in Iraq fell last week to a lower level than in any week since March 2004, U.S. military officials said.

There were about 300 recorded violent incidents in Iraq during the seven-day period ending Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. That was down from a one-week high of almost 1,600 in June 2007, the newspaper said, citing a chart provided by military officials.

The announcement followed an uprising by followers of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, amid concern the development could undermine possible security progress following the U.S. troop surge in 2007, the Times reported.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said the reduction in militant attacks resulted from Iraqi government operations during the past two months.

The operations included crackdowns in Basra, Mosul and the Sadr City district in Baghdad. The Basra operations in March was followed by a backlash by Sadr's militiamen in Sadr City and elsewhere in Iraq that eventually involved U.S. and British forces, the report said.

Driscoll said Sunday al-Qaida in Iraq is "off-balance and on the run" but is still a "very lethal threat."