HILLA (Iraq), Sept 28: Iraqi security forces will take control of the province of Babil within a month, the provincial governor said on Sunday, but warned that armed groups still roam the region.

Salem al-Saleh Meslmawe said security control of Babil, south of Baghdad, would be transferred from mid to late October, making it the 12th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be handed over by the US-led forces.

“We have discussed with the government and the coalition forces and there is an agreement to transfer security. This will be done within a month,” Meslmawe said.

“Security (in Babil) is very good and Iraqi security forces can control it.” The US military had a sprawling base in the historic town of Babylon, just north of Hilla. According to Unesco, archaeological treasures there suffered serious damage when US forces established the base in 2003.

The decision to transfer security responsibility from the Americans was also confirmed by provincial police chief Fadhel Radad. But he also said local forces still needed logistical support.

Former US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said earlier this month that the Americans planned to transfer security in Babil and the nearby province of Wasit to the Iraqis before the end of the year.

On Sept 10, Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassem Mohammed said Baghdad would soon assume security control of two more provinces.

“Iraq will take over security files of two provinces, Babylon and Wasit. The handover will be very soon,” he said,

Following the transfer in Babil, American troops would withdraw to their bases and join military operations only if asked by the governor.

On Sept 1, the Iraqis took control of the western Sunni province of Al-Anbar, once the deadliest region in the violence-wracked country.

Iraqi forces currently manage security in 11 provinces.

Apart from Babil and Wasit, the other five provinces still under the control of US forces are Baghdad, Diyala, oil-rich Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Saleheddin.

Like many other Iraqi provinces, Babil was torn by violence after the US invasion in March 2003.

But the region also saw regular attacks by Sunni insurgents and Al Qaeda jihadis, targeting Shiite pilgrims heading for the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.—AFP