Iraqi police taking lead in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Iraqi national police forces took the lead in operations in Baghdad, capturing two suspected bomb makers as the U.S. military reports declining violence.

Iraqi police forces in Baghdad, operating with the assistance of U.S. forces, uncovered a remote control device along with more than 70 timers, the American Forces Press Service reports.

Iraqis witnessed a relative uptick in violence following the January provincial elections. An American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed in Mosul on Tuesday as gunmen dressed in Iraqi police uniforms opened fire on a patrol. Three American troops were wounded.

The Mosul incident comes on the heels of reports that, in general, the level of violence in Iraq has declined to its lowest since 2003. Iraqi forces, for their part, continue to conduct operations independent of American forces, providing security during the January elections.

Meanwhile, members of the paramilitary Sons of Iraq force tipped off Iraqi police forces to a weapons cache containing four 81mm mortar rounds and 15 60mm mortar rounds in Baghdad.

Iraqi police forces also discovered a bomb located under a vehicle used by a member of the Sons of Iraq. Coalition forces defused the bomb.