General Fil: Iraqi forces take lead in only 8 percent of Baghdad; Unable 'to truly protect the city'

Above: An Iraqi soldier with the 1st Iraqi Army Division provides security during a combined patrol with U.S. troops through the Zafaraniyah area of east Baghdad in July.

Iraqi forces have taken the lead for security in only about eight percent of Baghdad's neighborhoods more than eight months after the start of the US troop surge, a senior US commander said Friday.

Major General Joseph Fil said violence has declined sharply in the city and more than half of its 474 neighborhoods, or "mahalas," are under the joint control of US and Iraqi forces, up from about 19 percent in June.

But the percentage of neighborhoods that have moved to what the military terms the "retain" phase of the security operation, in which Iraqi forces are in the lead and US troops are on standby, has remained stubbornly small...

"These numbers will change as we go through the fall and winter here," he assured reporters here in a video conference from Baghdad.

But the general acknowledged that the Iraqi security forces currently are insufficient "to truly protect the city."

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