US President Barack Obama says Washington will fulfill its pledge to halt combat operations in Iraq by the end of this month, but many Iraqis fear that US disengagement could portend a surge in violence.

Violence has plunged since the peak of the conflict in 2006-07, but bombings and other attacks occur still daily and Iraqi officials say the civilian death toll rose last month.

Squabbling politicians have been unable to agree on a coalition government since an inconclusive March 7 parliamentary election, raising tensions and opening the way for insurgents.

“The US withdrawal will pave the way for the militias and armed groups to work freely, and they will activate their operations again,” said Samer Ahmed, 32, a Baghdad labourer whose brother was killed by militants at the height of Iraq’s sectarian warfare in 2007.

“I believe Iraq’s security situation will deteriorate severely. A civil war is coming to devour everything in Iraq.”

In a speech to American veterans on Monday, Obama said he was making good on a promise to end US combat in Iraq by Aug. 31, despite a potentially dangerous political impasse that has raised fears of a renewed insurgency.

The withdrawal will leave security in the hands of Iraq’s own US-trained army and police, but many say they wonder if the security forces are ready to protect a country at war since the 2003 U.S-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

“Iraqi security forces are still unable to maintain the security in Iraq,” said Baqer Sadeq, a 21-year-old university student. “The US withdrawal from Iraq will pave the way for the violence and sectarian fighting to return.