The United States military says it will withdraw 12,000 troops from Iraq in the next six months.
The level of violence in Iraq has declined since 2007, but it remains a feature of daily life for many Iraqis.
On Monday, a suicide bomber killed at least 28 people queuing outside a police recruitment centre in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. At least 57 other people were wounded in the attack, carried out by a bomber on a motorcycle.
Two days earlier, at least 12 people died when a car bomb exploded at a cattle market in Babil province.
The announcement is part of a plan by US President Barack Obama to end combat operations in Iraq by August 2010.