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August toll high despite Baghdad crackdown

BAGHDAD: More than 1,500 persons died violently in Baghdad last month — nearly the same number as in July — and not the dramatic drop estimated just last week, when U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that their new security crackdown was working.

The Health Ministry says its final August tally of violent deaths in Baghdad was 1,536. That is nearly three times the same agency's preliminary estimate last week and shows a nearly undiminished epidemic of killings by militants and sectarian death squads.

The numbers raise serious questions about the success of the security operation. U.S. and Iraqi officials have been eager to show progress in restoring security in Baghdad at a time when the country appears on the verge of civil war, and support for the war is declining in the U.S.

To withdraw troops

Slovakia said on Friday his country planned to withdraw its troops from Iraq early next year. Jan Kubis said the Slovak troops sent to Iraq within the regular rotation system on August 23 were the last troops to go.

AP

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