Iraqi troops ready to take over: General Ray

[Waqas 48]

WASHINGTON: The top US commander in Iraq said on Sunday that Iraqi security forces are prepared to take over security operations in the country’s cities after U.S. forces pull back on 30 June.

“I do believe they are ready. They’ve been working towards this for a long time,” General Ray Odierno told a US news channel.

Odierno said that he has seen “constant improvement” among Iraq’s security forces.

He blamed the recent violence in Iraq on “extremist elements” who are using the 30 June deadline to “gain attention to themselves and divert attention from the success of Iraqi security forces.”

There are currently 131,000 American troops in Iraq, who are due to pull out of all of Iraq by the end of 2011. Odierno said that his goal is to ensure peaceful parliamentary elections there next January.

In a separate interview with another TV channel, Odierno said yesterday that all U.S. troops had already withdrawn from Iraq’s major cities ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.

“We’ve been slowly doing it over the last eight months. And the final units have moved out of the cities over the last several weeks,” he told Fox News.

The head of police in Iraq’s northeastern Diyala Province – one of the country’s most violent regions –expressed confidence in the ability of Iraqi forces to handle their new responsibilities.

“Iraqi forces have been ready for four or five months. We are ready in terms of numbers, equipment and training,” General Abdel Hussein Damuk was quoted by AFP as saying.

General Odierno told CNN that Iran continues to “interfere” in Iraq, including training insurgents.

Tehran has repeatedly denied U.S. accusations of fomenting violence inside Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Abu_Hanzala 2]

Wo kehtey hain na k Geedarr ki jab mout aati hai tou sheher ka rukh kerta hai...in ko or koi bahana nahi mila bhaagnay ka???

InshaAllah Pakistan or Afghanistan sey bhi ye dum daba ker bhaagein gey!