War News for Thursday, December 06, 2007

Baghdad:
#1: Clashes raged early Thursday in southern Baghdad's Saydiyah neighborhood, and three Iraqi soldiers were wounded there, police said. The fighting began when Iraqi troops approached a house where militants were believed to be hiding. The suspects tossed hand grenades out from the windows, toward the soldiers outside. Gunfire erupted, and the militants fled the house after about 30 minutes, police said. Police had no information about insurgent casualties, but said the men were believed to have escaped.

#2: Six people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the Diyala Bridge district of southeastern Baghdad, police said.

#3: Five people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near the al-Shaab National Stadium in central Baghdad, police said.

#4: Another explosive device exploded in al-Bayaa region in southern Baghdad while a U.S. patrol vehicle was passing," another police source said. "The blast injured one civilian and partially destroyed a U.S. Hummer," he added. No word was available on casualties among U.S. forces.


Diyala Prv:
Muqdadiyah:
#1: Drive-by shootings killed at least two people, police said, describing separate attacks Thursday in Baghdad and Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of the capital. One of the dead was a bus driver shuttling female college students to school during the morning rush hour in western Baghdad, police said. One of the girls was wounded.

#2: In Muqdadiyah, suspects gunned down a volunteer guard, police said.

Khanaqin:
#1: Eight Kurdish Peshmerga troops and three militant gunmen were killed in a battle northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, a spokesman for the Kurdish forces said. Major-General Jabbar Yawar, spokesman for the Peshmerga units of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, said the fighting took place near the town of Khanaqin. The Peshmergas, who have fought alongside U.S. and Iraqi troops, were attacked by gunmen with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Five Peshmerga were wounded and the fighting continued into the afternoon near the ethnically and religiously mixed town.


Kut:
#1: Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a middle-aged woman in front of her house in Kut's western neighborhood of al-Karimiya, killing her on the spot," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

2: U.S. soldiers killed two suspected Shi'ite militia fighters and wounded two others during a raid in the al-Hayy area south of the city of Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.


Dwelah:
#1: the American military issued a statement saying its troops killed three suspected insurgents and captured 19 Thursday in raids targeting al-Qaida in Iraq along the Tigris River valley. One of the operations took place near Dwelah, but was apparently unrelated to recent killings there


Dhuluiya:
#1: Gunmen killed a policeman and wounded two others in an attack in the town of Dhuluiya, 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: Unknown gunmen staged a fake checkpoint on the road linking Kirkuk to Baghdad near Tuz Khurmato, intercepted a car heading to Baghdad, and took its seven passengers to an unknown destination," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found one body in Al Saadiyah area west of Kirkuk.

The body of a man showing signs of torture was found in Abbasi near the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Al Anbar prv:
Fallujah:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded three others near the city of Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: The joint command of the coalition force in Afghanistan has announced the start of a large-scale military operation against Taliban insurgents in the south of the country. A coalition spokesman said the operation will begin on Thursday in the Helmand province. Residents of neighboring villages have been ordered to leave their homes to avoid civilian casualties. More than 7,000 villagers have already left the area.