Saturday, October 07, 2006
4,000 Iraqi police killed in two years
Security
Around 4,000 Iraqi police have been killed during the past two years, the US army commander in charge of their training has said. More than 8,000 police officers had also been wounded in attacks in the same period, Major General Joseph Peterson said on Friday. Peterson said there were many Iraqi police who had "paid a great price" for their loyalty to their country.
Iraq's police force has been repeatedly targeted by armed Sunni groups and has also been widely infiltrated by Shia militias. Peterson said that it is hard to tell how many militia members have infiltrated the police forces. About 186,000 Iraqi police have been trained, and officials expect to exceed the goal of 188,000 by 10,000 by the end of the year, Peterson said. Currently there are 6,000 US-led forces embedded with the Iraqi police units as training teams. Peterson said the Iraqi police are becoming better trained and more willing to stand up to insurgent attacks.
Iraq's police force has been repeatedly targeted by armed Sunni groups and has also been widely infiltrated by Shia militias. Peterson said that it is hard to tell how many militia members have infiltrated the police forces. About 186,000 Iraqi police have been trained, and officials expect to exceed the goal of 188,000 by 10,000 by the end of the year, Peterson said. Currently there are 6,000 US-led forces embedded with the Iraqi police units as training teams. Peterson said the Iraqi police are becoming better trained and more willing to stand up to insurgent attacks.
