Security Incidents for 05/26/07

Photo: Baghdad: Iraqis inspect the damage to cars after US-led forces called in airstrikes to support an early morning raid in the Baghdad Shiite stronghold of Sadr City today. US-led forces seized a suspected militant with ties to Iran and killed five. (Wissam al-Okaili/AFP-Getty Images)

Baghdad- At least four people, including three policemen, were killed and ten others, including seven policemen, were wounded on Saturday in two separate attacks in northern and western Baghdad, a police source said.

Baghdad- Iraqi police patrols found on Saturday 20 bodies with gunshots in eastern and western Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said.

Baghdad- At least seven people were killed and 30 more wounded on Saturday in a series of attacks in southwestern Baghdad, a police source said.

Baghdad– Two U.S. soldiers were killed and another wounded in clashes in the capital Baghdad and the restive Sunni western Iraq province of Anbar, the U.S. army announced in two separate statements on Saturday.

Baghdad- The U.S. army said on Saturday a suspected leader of a secret cell was arrested and five gunmen were killed during a raid in the Shiite Sadr City, eastern Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - One U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad on Saturday, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed two soldiers and wounded 11 others in western Ghazaliya district, police said.

BAGHDAD - A mortar attack wounded eight people in north-central Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - At least five people were killed and 37 were wounded when a car bomb and several mortar rounds exploded in a crowded market of Baghdad's Shi'ite Bayaa district, police said.

BAGHDAD - A mortar round killed two people and wounded seven when it struck homes in eastern Baghdad on Friday, police said.

DIWANIYA - Gunmen killed three off-duty Iraqi soldiers in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniya on Friday, police said.

HAWIJA - Gunmen killed a policeman near the insurgent stronghold of Hawija, a Sunni Arab town 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

TAJI - U.S. forces killed two insurgents and detained 23 others during a raid in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

DAQUQ - Police found the bodies of three people bearing signs of torture on Friday in the town of Daquq, 40 km (25 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.

KIRKUK - Police found the remains of a charred body in central Kirkuk, police said.

TIKRIT - Gunmen killed a captain in the police force in the Sunni Arab town of Tikrit as he headed home from work, police said.

TIKRIT - Three U.S. soldiers were killed and two wounded in an explosion near their patrol in Salahaddin province, north of Baghdad, on Saturday, the U.S. military said.

FALLUJA - A U.S. Marine was killed in combat operations in western Anbar province on Saturday, the military said.

Muqdadiyah- At least ten civilians were killed and seven others wounded on Saturday in clashes that erupted between gunmen and tribesmen in a village near al-Muqdadiyah district in central Iraq, a security source said.

Diala- Gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms kidnapped nine civilians on Saturday in the province of Diala after they positioned a fake checkpoint on a main road in its main city of Baaquba, eyewitnesses said.

KUT - Iraqi and Polish forces killed four Mehdi Army militiamen and detained 20 others in the small town of Jihad, 80 km (50 miles) west of Kut, police said.

Kut- U.S. and Polish forces on Saturday launched a search campaign in Kut city, 180 km southeast of Baghdad, arresting 20 suspected gunmen, a security source said.

Basra- Three British soldiers were wounded in clashes with unknown gunmen near the British base at Basra international airport in northwest of the city of Basra, the spokeswoman for the British forces in southern Iraq said on Saturday.

Basra - Four members of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia were killed and four others wounded in clashes with British forces on Saturday in central Basra. One British soldier was also wounded in the confrontations.

BASRA - The British military said they killed a number of militiamen in an airstrike in the southern city of Basra after insurgents bombarded bases where British troops were based. Angry residents said the strike killed eight civilians and a hospital source said 22 people were wounded from the strike.

Raid in Sadr City

The statement added "the individual detained during the raid is believed to be the suspected leader in a secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training." The U.S. forces also killed at least five during the raid after nine vehicles tried to block the way of the combined force when they were departing the target area, the statement also said. The army said U.S. choppers engaged during the clashes with the gunmen riding the nine vehicles. Earlier on Saturday, an eyewitness told VOI "U.S. choppers dropped bombs on back streets and houses near to the petrol station in section 55 of Sadr City." He added "there were casualties due to the raid and ambulances rushed to the location." Another eyewitness said "a number of civilian cars were burnt while local residents were in panic because of the clashes that lasted almost an hour."