A study said the number of attacks in Iraq has fallen to its lowest since the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) declared a "caliphate" in 2014, AFP reported Wednesday (November 22nd).

"Non-state armed group attacks and resulting fatalities represented the lowest monthly totals since the formation of ISIS and the declaration of the caliphate in June 2014, highlighting the extent of the decrease in operational activity by the group in Iraq," the Britain-based Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC) said.

"The 126 attacks in October represented almost half the peak recorded in January, while the 102 fatalities represented an 80% decrease from November 2016."

The drop in violence came as Iraqi troops forced ISIS from the last few towns it held along the border with Syria, reducing its territory to just a few pockets of sparsely populated desert.

As the group has lost ground it has increasingly turned to "asymmetric operations, typified by low-level attacks targeting the security forces and higher profile attacks against civilian sectarian targets", the JTIC said.

In October, ISIS elements carried out 15 suicide attacks that claimed seven lives, with the security forces succeeding in disrupting the vast majority of the attempts, the study said.