Iraqi PM insists nation’s security forces can defend it after US withdrawal

PRIME Minister Nuri al- Maliki said yesterday Iraq’s own soldiers and police were capable of defending a “sovereign and independent” country as American forces ended seven years of combat operations.

A major troop pullout over past months has left fewer than 50,000 US soldiers in Iraq, while a near simultaneous surge in car bombings and shootings, many targeting security forces, has seen hundreds of people killed.

In a television address, Maliki said he was confident the last American forces would leave the country as planned at the end of 2011, stressing the Iraqi military and police were firmly in charge.