Casualties rise in Iraq after Qaeda bombs

By Paul Tait

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violent civilian deaths in Iraq rose by 36 percent in February from the previous month after a series of large-scale bombings blamed on al Qaeda, Iraqi government figures showed on Saturday.

A total of 633 civilians died violently in February, compared with 466 in January, according to figures released by Iraq's interior, defence and health ministries, the first increase after six consecutive months of falling casualty tolls.

Despite its sharp rise, the February 2008 figure was still dramatically lower than the 1,645 civilians who died violently in the same month a year ago. A total of 701 civilians were wounded, compared with 2,700 a year ago.

Declining civilian casualties have been hailed by Iraqi and U.S. military officials as proof that new counter-insurgency tactics adopted last year have been working and Iraq has become significantly safer.

But February's casualty figures spiked after female bombers killed 99 people at two popular pet markets in Baghdad on Feb. 2 in attacks blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.

A suicide bomber targeting pilgrims heading to the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala for a religious ritual killed 63 people in Iskandariya just south of Baghdad on Feb. 24 in another attack blamed on al Qaeda.

Officials say attacks across Iraq have fallen 60 percent since last June, when an extra 30,000 U.S. troops became fully deployed as part of the new counter-insurgency strategy, which included moving troops out of large bases and into smaller combat outposts.

That coincided with the growth of largely Sunni Arab neighbourhood police units, whose U.S.-backed guards now number about 80,000 and are also credited for playing a large part in improved security.