The security situation in Iraq continues to improve as violence significantly dropped in recent months, Iraq's UN ambassador Hamid al-Bayati said Thursday.
Citing official statistics, al-Bayati told the security council that acts of violence dropped by 76 percent from March to May this year, compared to the same period in 2008.
"... an improvement confirming the development of the Iraqi security forces' capability and the significant decline in the capabilities of terrorist groups," he said.
The ambassador said that the Iraqi security forces have been able to "dismantle and destroy 90 percent of these groups," taking the arrest on April 23 of the so-called Emir of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, as an example.
In his latest report on Iraq, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that although the overall security situation has improved since 2008, the country still faces "important security challenges."