Security Incidents for 03/30/07

PHOTO: Men cry as they wait to claim the body of their mother killed in Thursday's bomb attack, outside a hospital morgue in Baghdad, March 30, 2007. (Kareem Raheem/Reuters)

In Country:

The average numbers of people killed and of car bombs have increased slightly, according to statistics that McClatchy Newspapers compiled.

Baghdad:

While conducting a combat security patrol, a MND-B Soldier died and another was wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near the Soldiers in a southern section of the Iraqi capital March 29.

Iraqi state television said Friday that U.S. air strike killed 16 people in Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, while the U.S. military said they raided the Shiite bastion and detained a suspected militant. Al-Iraqia, the Iraqi state-run television, reported the incident, adding 14 more people were wounded in the attack. The U.S. military did not confirmed the incident.

More than 20 people were killed and wounded when U.S. troops pounded a village east of Baghdad early on Friday, a well-informed police source said. "U.S. troops, including aircraft, pounded the village of Sha'ourah Wa Jider in an area between Baghdad and Diyala province, killing and wounding more than 20 people," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. There was no further information available about the incident,the source said. The U.S. military did not confirmed the incident.

A U.S. force raided on Friday an office of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr in al-Hurriya district, north Baghdad, killing a loyalist and a child and arresting two others, eyewitnesses said. "The U.S. force opened fire and hurled tear gas canisters inside and around the office," the witness, a local resident of al-Hurriya, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The child was killed while passing by near the scene of the raid, the witness added, noting U.S. troops are still taking positions around the office.

The number of unidentified bodies found dumped on Baghdad streets, which had dropped to an average of 13 per day in the weeks just after the plan began, has averaged 19 a day for the past two weeks

Iraqi and U.S. forces captured a man believed to be involved in bringing explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) into Iraq, the U.S. military said. The EFPs are a particularly lethal form of roadside bomb.

Eleven gunmen were arrested on Friday in raids carried out in west Iraq, the Multi-National Force (MNF) said.

Hilla:

Gunmen killed two policemen in a drive-by shooting and wounded another in a village near the city of Hilla, police said. Hilla is 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad.

Diwaniya:

Gunmen shot dead a man in front of his shop in Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, on Thursday, police said.

Al Azim District:

An explosive charge went off on Friday near an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in al-Azim district, north of Diala province, central Iraq, killing an Iraqi soldier and destroying a Hummer, a police source said. "An Iraqi army vehicle patrol was attacked on Friday by a roadside bomb, planted on the highway, near to al-Azim district, north of Khalis, destroying a Hummer and killing a soldier inside it," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Mosul:

Police said they found 25 bodies in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday. Police said they believed the high number of killings was triggered by tensions linked to sectarian violence in nearby Tal Afar, where 155 people were killed this week in attacks.

Six mortar shells were fired on Friday at the local TV & Radio building in the city of Mosul but no casualties were reported, said an official source in the Iraqi police. "No losses took place," the Ninawa police command's operations room director Brig. Abdul-Kareem al-Juburi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Two explosive charges went off near U.S. and Iraqi vehicle patrols in two separate incidents in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul with no reports of casualties, a security source said on Friday.

An Iraqi police patrol on Friday detonated a car bomb left by unidentified people in eastern Mosul, Iraqi police sources said on Friday.

Basra:

Radio Sawa's correspondent in Basra city Majid al-Brikan survived on Friday an attempt on his life when three gunmen opened fire against him outside his house in central Basra, 550 km south of Baghdad, an eyewitness said.

Falluja:

A U.S. vehicle was destroyed on Friday when a car bomb was detonated near a U.S. vehicle patrol in Falluja, 45 km west of Baghdad, an eyewitness said.

A U.S. vehicle was destroyed on Friday when an explosive device detonated near a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Garma town, 15 km east of Falluja, local residents said.

Kirkuk:

An explosive charge detonated Friday near a police patrol vehicle in Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad, with no reports of casualties, a security source said.

Missan:

A civilian killed by unidentified gunmen in Missan province, while a former member in the dissolved Baath party was injured when a group of armed men opened fire against him in central city, a source in Missan police department said on Friday.

Baaquba:

The forensic medicine department in Diala province received seven unidentified bodies on Friday that had been found in different areas near Baaquba city, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, a source from the forensic medicine department said.

Diala Province:

Iraqi police forces, backed by U.S. troops, killed two gunmen and arrested six others in Diala province, central Iraq, a police source said on Friday.

Thanks to whisker for some of the links above.