Security Incidents for Saturday, June 30, 07


MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier in a southern neighborhood of Baghdad on Friday, June 29th, when his patrol was hit by an explosively-formed penetrator. Three other soldiers were injured in the blast.

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From the Washington post: U.S. Officer Calls Insurgents 'Ruthless'

"This is a skilled and determined enemy. He's ruthless. He's got a thirst for blood like I've never seen anywhere in my life," said Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., the 1st Cavalry Division commander who has been in charge of military operations throughout the capital since late last year.



Baghdad:
#1: 26 people died in American raids in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, the U.S. military said Saturday. In Sadr City, the military said those killed were ''terrorists'' who attacked U.S. troops before dawn Saturday with small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs. But Iraqi police and hospital officials said all the dead were civilians killed in their homes. ''Everyone who got shot was shooting at U.S. troops at the time,'' said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman. ''It was an intense firefight.'' The Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, put the death toll at eight, with 20 wounded.

American troops entered the Shiite enclave in search of militants suspected of helping Iranian terror networks fund operations in Iraq, the statement said. There were no U.S. casualties, it said. But witnesses said U.S. forces rolled into their neighborhood before dawn and opened fire without warning. ''At about 4 a.m., a big American convoy with tanks came and began to open fire on houses -- bombing them,'' said Basheer Ahmed, who lives in Sadr City's Habibiya district. ''What did we do? We didn't even retaliate -- there was no resistance.'' The raids centered on the Habibiya and Orfali districts of Sadr City, police said.

#2: Four people were wounded when a mortar round landed in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Abu Dshir in southern Baghdad, police said


Diyala Prv:
Muqdadiyah:
#1: A suicide attacker killed 20 Iraqis and wounded 22 when he detonated his explosives-belt near a volunteer centre for the local police department in Muqdadiyah city, the authorities told the Independent News Agency Saturday. According to a police source, the attack happened at noon.


Tikrit:
#1: Iraqi soldiers killed one gunman and detained 25 other suspects during raids in Sufait in Diyala province north of Baghdad on Wednesday, the U.S. military said on Saturday.


Daquq:
#1: Gunmen assassinated a local municipality official when they threw a hand grenade at his vehicle in the town of Daquq, 45 km (20 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen killed a civilian in the restive oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen killed three women, including two sisters on Friday in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: The U.S. military said on Saturday it had uncovered 35 to 40 bodies in a mass grave south of Falluja, in Iraq's Sunni dominated Anbar province. A Falluja hospital source said 35 bodies had been retrieved and were being finger-printed to establish their identity. The military said the killings were relatively recent and the bodies had been bound and bore gunshot wounds. The mass grave was found late on Friday near a place called Ferris, roughly 35 km (22 miles) south of the city of Falluja, after a tip-off from a local, it said.




Afghanistan:
#1: U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in southern Afghanistan left at least 30 people, including women and children, killed or wounded, an official said Saturday. Taliban fighters tried to ambush a joint U.S.-Afghan military convoy in Helmand province's Gereshk district late Friday before fleeing into a nearby village for cover, said Mohammad Hussein, the provincial police chief. Airstrikes targeted the militants in the village of Hyderabad, said Dur Ali Shah, the mayor of Gereshk. Shah said 30 to 35 people were killed or wounded but he could not provide an exact breakdown. Villagers reported casualty tolls far higher than 30 but those figures were not immediately corroborated by officials. Six houses also were destroyed during the clash, he said. "Right now we do not know the number of Taliban casualties," Shah said

#2: Pro-Taliban militants, in a Pakistani border town, blew up 13 oil tankers supplying fuel for international troops in Afghanistan, officials said on Friday. The explosion on Friday night targeted tankers parked in Landikotal, the main town of Khyber tribal district, 35 kilometres west of Peshawar, a security official said. An improvised explosive device planted underneath a tanker went off, triggering a massive fire and gutting 13 tankers, the official said on

.