The US army has seen a "significant decrease" in the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq in the past several months, the top US commander in the country said on Monday.
General Ray Odierno also told reporters that Al-Qaeda had been degraded "significantly," saying it was becoming increasingly difficult for the terror network to operate in Iraq.
Two weeks before US forces leave Iraq's cities, towns and villages as part of a landmark security accord between Baghdad and Washington, Odierno said he had "seen a significant decrease in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq" in the past eight to 10 months.
"Al-Qaeda has been degraded significantly," he added at a news conference. "It's becoming more and more difficult for them."
He added that American forces had seen "some fighters coming through Syria," but said Damascus had taken action in recent weeks to restrict their movements into Iraq.
The United States has previously stated its concern over foreign fighters entering Iraq to take part in an insurgency that raged against US and Iraqi security forces in 2006 and 2007, but which has since quietened considerably.
Although increasingly rare, attacks remain common particularly in Baghdad and in the restive northern city of Mosul.
American forces will withdraw from Iraq's urban centres by the end of the month, and must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 as part of the agreement between the two countries, signed last November.
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