U.S. military says large-scale attacks in Iraq down by half

High-profile attacks in Iraq so far in May are down nearly 60% from a year ago, the U.S. military said Sunday, though violence continues to plague the northern city of Mosul, where a suicide car bomber targeting an American convoy killed one Iraqi and wounded at least 34.

Mosul is considered the last urban stronghold of the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq, and Sunday’s attack comes as military operations are being conducted there before a June 30 deadline for U.S. forces to pull out of Iraq’s cities.

The Iraqi government has said the deadline will not be extended, despite concerns by American military commanders that Iraqi forces may not be ready to take on security for Mosul.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. David Perkins said Sunday that high-profile attacks -- those involving a high number of casualties -- in May were down 58% from the same period last year and more than 50% from a month ago.

There were 28 high-profile attacks in April and 13 so far this month, Perkins said. The April attacks killed about 235 people and raised fears that the security gains of the last two years were eroding.

Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Musawi insisted that Iraq’s security forces were ready to take over.

“We are confident that Iraqi security forces are able to eliminate the remaining terrorist groups despite desperate acts by them to destabilize the situation,” he told reporters during a joint briefing in Baghdad.

Despite numerous U.S.-Iraqi military operations, Sunni insurgents remain active north of Baghdad, in Diyala province and in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of the capital.

Lt. Col. David Doherty, a military spokesman, said initial reports indicated 38 people were injured and one person was killed in Sunday’s bombing. He said there were no reports of U.S. casualties.

An Iraqi hospital official said 45 civilians were wounded. An Iraqi police official said 34 were wounded and no one was killed. Conflicting casualty numbers are common in Iraq in the aftermath of an attack.

The U.S. military also announced the arrest of a woman who is the suspected ringleader of a group believed responsible for recruiting women to be suicide bombers.

The military said the woman was arrested Saturday in Baghdad.