War News for Friday, March 07, 2008

Baghdad:
#1: update--The death toll from a pair of bomb attacks in Baghdad rose to 69 with 120 injured Friday, an Interior Ministry officials said, as another suicide attack elsewhere in the country claimed the lives for five security officers. A roadside bomb exploded first, around 7 p.m., in the central Baghdad district of Karrada, killing and wounding a number of people, the Interior Ministry official said. As others gathered to help the wounded, a suicide bomber amid the crowd detonated an explosive vest, killing and wounding many more, the official said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted an American military convoy in Dora, Iraqi police said. No casualties were reported.

#3: Police found three unidentified bodies throughout Baghdad: one in Al Khadhraa, one in Tobchi, and one in Ur neighborhood.

#4: The U.S. military said coalition forces had killed an armed criminal and detained a suspected Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia coordinator in Baghdad.


Najaf:
#1: A vehicle carrying a number of pilgrims to Najaf collided with a Hummer belonging to the Iraqi army in the area of al-Kifl, (40 km) south of Hilla, leaving four killed and four others wounded," the source, who preferred not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq. Four pilgrims were killed and four others wounded.


Samarra:
#1: U.S. soldiers killed eight suspected al Qaeda fighters and detained 10 others in raids around Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Seven other suspects were arrested in operations elsewhere in central Iraq.


Mosul:
#1: On Friday, a suicide car bomb attack on a police station in Mosul killed five security force members and wounded 17 other people, according to a police official. Police said most of the dead and wounded in the 7 a.m. bombing were members of either the police or civil defense forces. Mosul is about 260 miles (420 km) north of Baghdad.

#2: Meanwhile, a provincial police officer said twin bombings in the central part of the city killed one person and injured 14 others. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.



On the home front:
#1: The Hamilton Marine corporal charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a fellow Marine in Iraq was sentenced to prison by a military tribunal yesterday. Douglas Michael Sullivan, 23, formerly of Mill Street, who pleaded guilty on Tuesday, was handed a bad conduct discharge and was ordered to spend 27 months in a military jail at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Sullivan had earlier admitted to the basic facts of the case: He picked up a rifle he thought was unloaded but didn't make sure that was true. He then pointed the weapon at Lance Cpl. Kristopher Warren's face and pulled the trigger. Warren, of Georgia, died instantly from the shot to the head.