London, Nov. 17: Attacks on foreign troops by Iraqi renegades have dropped by 90 per cent in southern Iraq since Britain withdrew its troops from Basra.

The British presence in central Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest trigger for violence, Major General Graham Binns said.

About 500 British troops moved out of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in the heart of Basra in early September, joining some 4500 at a garrison at an airport on the city's edge.

Since then there has been a "remarkable and dramatic drop in attacks", The Times quoted Major General Binns said.

"The motivation for attacking us was gone, because we're no longer patrolling the streets," he added. (ANI)