BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- The number of civilians killed in Iraq fell in June despite a few big bombings, keeping violence levels at around four-year lows, Iraqi government figures showed on Tuesday.
The statistics come at a time when the U.S. military is close to completing a drawdown of more than 20,000 combat troops that were sent to Iraq in early 2007 to pull the country back from the brink of all-out sectarian civil war.
Numbers from the Health Ministry showed 448 civilians were killed in June, from 505 in May. The May figure was down from 968 civilian deaths in April, a month when fighting spiraled between Shi'ite militias and security forces.
U.S. troop deaths in Iraq rose to 29 in June from 19 in May, according to the independent website icasualties.org, which tracks American casualty figures.
The May number was the lowest since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In June last year, 101 U.S. troops were killed.
Civilian deaths in June are at 4-year lows.
U.S. troop deaths in June were down dramatically from last year.
That's good news. There's progress in Iraq.
Of course, if a loved one was among the dead last month, there's little comfort in that.
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