BAGHDAD — U.S. military officials said Saturday that overall American troop levels in Iraq would drop by about 5,000 next month when a combat brigade completed its withdrawal.
The U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry, which has been operating primarily in the country's volatile eastern Diyala province, will be the first of five brigades to depart Iraq without being replaced over the next several months, officials confirmed.
The pending departure of the 3rd Brigade was announced Nov. 13, but the number of soldiers had been reported as 3,000 and the withdrawal was said to be scheduled for January.
"The redeployment without replacement reflects overall improved security within Iraq as well as the improved capability of the Iraqi security forces and the emergence of concerned local citizens," spokesman U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said at a news conference Saturday.
This U.S. military recently announced plans to reduce troop numbers by about 20,000 by July. The current level is about 162,000 troops.
Saturday's report detailing the planned withdrawal came a day after 13 people were killed in a bombing at a popular Baghdad pet market, which U.S. officials blamed on Iranian-backed militants. Iraqi security forces detained four people overnight Friday in connection with the attack, the officials said.
"Based on subsequent confessions, forensics and other intelligence, the bombing was the work of an Iranian-backed special groups' cell operating here in Baghdad," Smith said.
He emphasized that he was not suggesting that the Iranian government ordered the bombing.
"What I'm telling you is that the forces that are inside Iraq that have historically received training, funding, equipping and so forth by Iran, is the group responsible for that attack," Smith said.
He said the group's purpose was to "make it appear that Al Qaeda in Iraq was responsible for the attack" to convince residents of the need for militias to continue providing security. "It's a very twisted intent . . . but we accept that to be the motivation."
The military has been heralding figures that show civilian deaths in Baghdad are down 75% since June, when the last of an additional 28,500 American troops deployed to Iraq this year arrived. And many Iraqis have expressed hope that the recent drop in violence signals a new period of calm.
