Iraqi security forces have pulled down hundreds of concrete blast walls in central Baghdad.
The walls, which were demolished on April 28, were first erected in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They multiplied during 2006 and 2007 at the height of sectarian violence.
Standing as symbols of ongoing insecurity, some walls divided communities and blocked already heavy traffic.
The first blast walls were taken down in August 2009 as U.S. troops began to withdraw.
But hundreds stayed to help protect a capital under constant attack.
Although violence has dropped since 2007, it surged again immediately after the December 2011 final U.S. troop withdrawal, when about 72 people were killed in a wave of bombings.
At least thirty people were killed in Baghdad bomb blasts on April 19.
The walls, which were demolished on April 28, were first erected in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They multiplied during 2006 and 2007 at the height of sectarian violence.
Standing as symbols of ongoing insecurity, some walls divided communities and blocked already heavy traffic.
The first blast walls were taken down in August 2009 as U.S. troops began to withdraw.
But hundreds stayed to help protect a capital under constant attack.
Although violence has dropped since 2007, it surged again immediately after the December 2011 final U.S. troop withdrawal, when about 72 people were killed in a wave of bombings.
At least thirty people were killed in Baghdad bomb blasts on April 19.
