The U.S. military says rocket and mortar attacks by insurgents in Iraq have dropped to their lowest level in 21 months.
The military says it recorded 369 indirect fire attacks in October 2007, less than half the number reported in October the previous year. It says the attacks have declined each month since June, when more than a thousand were recorded.
The U.S. military attributes the drop to Iraqi citizens reporting weapons caches to authorities, local reconciliation efforts and coalition troops dismantling rocket squads. An Iraqi military official says declining violence in Baghdad will allow the government later this month to re-open 10 roads that have been closed for security reasons.
In other news, Iraqi officials say security guards working for a U.S. company shot and killed an Iraqi taxi driver whose vehicle approached a convoy in Baghdad on Saturday.