Iraq's monthly death toll down in December

The monthly death toll among Iraqis from violence deceased in December comparing to the previous month as the United States fully pulled out its troops from the country, the Iraqi authorities said on Sunday. A total of 155 people have been killed by attacks during December across the country, including 90 civilians and 65 security members, according to figures compiled by Iraqi ministries of Interior, Defense and Health. December's death toll is lower than that of November, when the authorities announced the death of a total of 187 Iraqis. December's figures also showed that a total of 279 people were wounded during the month, including 180 security members. The worst attacks occurred in the month was on Dec. 22, when a series of bomb attacks ripped across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing a total of 63 people and wounding 185 others, amid a growing row among Iraqi political rivals few days after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. According to the 2008 security pact named Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between the United States and Iraq, all the U.S. troops were scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. The U.S. troops' pullout came after a total of 4,484 U.S. soldiers had died in the country since the U.S.-led war in Iraq broke out in 2003, according to media account based on the Pentagon figures.