The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

Bombs and drive-by shootings killed at least 21 people across Baghdad and its northern belts yesterday, and the US military announced the deaths of three more soldiers killed in combat in the country's north.

Yesterday's tolls were in line with a trend borne out by Associated Press figures that show the number of Iraqi civilians who meet violent deaths fell sharply in October, as did the US military death toll. The number of Iraqi civilians killed dropped from at least 1,023 in September to at least 905 in October, according to an AP count, and the number of American military deaths fell from 65 to at least 39 over the same period.

America's number-two military commander in Iraq said yesterday that over the past three months, there has also been a sharp decline in the number of EFPs, or explosively formed projectiles, found across the country.

EFPs fire a slug of molten copper capable of penetrating armored vehicles and so are more deadly than other roadside bombs. They are used largely by Shi'ite militias, and Washington blames Iran for their manufacture and distribution in Iraq. Iran denies the assertion.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters by videoconference from Iraq, Army Lieutenant General Ray Odierno said there were 30 EFP explosions in October and 23 more were found unexploded, for a total of 53. That compares with 99 in July, 78 in August, and 52 in September, he said.

But Odierno said it was unclear whether the decline was attributable to the Iranians curtailing the flow of the weapons.

"It's unclear to me whether they have slowed down bringing in weapons and supporting the insurgency or not," Odierno said. "I'll still wait and see."

Iraqi and American forces captured some 118 suspected insurgents in two days of raids in central and northern Iraq. US troops killed 14 suspects during the operations, the military said.