Why Bush and Petraeus want to suspend troop withdrawls from Iraq

War News for Friday, April 11, 2008

This is what the surge has accomplished: more than 289 persons have

been killed and 1448 others wounded since the beginning of armed

clashes in Sadr City on March 25, an official source in the health

ministry said on Friday."The death toll of the clashes and bombarding

operations in Sadr City which started on March 25 rose to 289 dead and

1448 wounded," the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq

- Voices of Iraq.

Baghdad:

#1: The U.S. military says one of its drones has killed six gunmen in

Baghdad's Sadr City district. The military says an unmanned aerial

vehicle observed a group carrying rocket-propelled grenades and

mortars Thursday evening. The drone fired a Hellfire missile, killing

six of the suspected militants. There was no immediate comment from

the Iraqi police on Friday morning.

#2: On Friday, Sadr City residents said there was a lull in violence

in the neighbourhood but sniper attacks had wounded three people.

"Sadr City was quiet last night. This morning there were some gun

shots, while three people were wounded by snipers. We did not hear any

explosions," said one resident, Abdul Hussein Hadi.

#3: 1 Katyusha rocket hit the perimeter of the Palestine Meridian

Hotel, on the Abu Nawas side, central Baghdad at 3.15 pm Friday

injuring 2 civilians.

And a rocket apparently aimed at the U.S.-protected Green Zone also

fell short, crashing into a second-floor room and blowing a hole in

the wall of the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad.

A missile ripped a hole in the second floor of the Palestine Hotel in

central Baghdad, killing three civilians outside the hotel, police

said. The hotel, sited across the Tigris River from the Green Zone

diplomatic and government compound, houses some international media

but is largely vacant. The Associated Press, which has TV staff in the

hotel, said none of its people were hurt.

A missile ripped a hole through the second floor of Baghdad's

Palestine Hotel on Friday, Reuters witnesses said, and police said

three civilians were killed and seven injured.

#4: 1 Katyusha rocket fell on the Green Zone at around 3.15 pm Friday.

No casualties reported.

#5: Meanwhile, sporadic clashes between Iraqi security forces and

militia fighters broke out for a sixth day in the Mahdi Army

strongholds of Baghdad's Sadr City and the southern port city of

Basra.

#6: Elsewhere in eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb destroyed an armored

vehicle in eastern Baghdad, killing an Iraqi.

#7: A roadside bomb exploded targeting a police patrol in Shaab,

northeast Baghdad at around 2 pm Friday, killing 1 policeman and

injuring 3.

#8: A roadside bomb exploded targeting a joint US/Iraqi patrol in

Baladiyat, north east Baghdad at 3 pm today killing 3 civilians.

Clashes broke out with the gunmen after the IED went off. No

casualties were reported.

#9:A mortar round fell on a bread bakery in Talbiyah, Square 83

killing 2 civilians and injuring 5.

#10: 3 unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad today by Iraqi

Police. 1 in Baladiyat; 1 in Shaab and 1 in Hurriyah.

Diyala Prv:

#1: A roadside bomb exploded targeting an Iraqi Army patrol in Abu

Khamis, 10 km to the south of Baquba at 12.15 this afternoon injuring

2 army servicemen.

#2: A roadside bomb exploded as a civilian car was passing in al-

Muradiyah, 20 km to the east of Baquba at 1 pm Friday. In the car was

a family of 7. 1 child was killed; the mother, father and 4 other

siblings were severely injured.

Najaf:

#1: Gunmen shot dead a top official from radical Shiite cleric Moqtada

al-Sadr's movement in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf after Friday

prayers, police and an aide to the cleric told AFP. Riyad al-Nuri,

director of the Sadr movement's office in Najaf, was shot dead near

his home as he was returning from the weekly prayers, Najaf police

chief Major General Abdul Karim Mustafa said.

Kut:

#1: Sadrist sources told dpa that joint US-Iraqi forces attacked the

office of al-Sadr in Nomaneiya area in the city of Kut, some 170

kilometres south of the Iraqi capital. Forces burnt the office after

killing Sadrists inside it, they said.

Basra:

#1: A US air strike on Friday killed six people in a restive district

of Iraq's southern city of Basra, a British military spokesman said.

The air strike was carried out in Basra's northern district of Al-

Hayaniyah at around 2:30 am (2330 GMT Thursday), Major Tom Holloway

told Agence France-Presse. "The air strike was launched after

positively identifying a mortar team that was engaging the Iraqi

troops on the ground," Holloway said, adding US aircraft carried out

the strike. He said the military's assessment revealed that six people

were killed and one wounded.

At least one member of the Mahdi Army militia was killed on Friday and

three civilians wounded when US helicopters attacked some houses in

the southern Iraqi city of Basra, witnesses said.

#2: Meanwhile, sporadic clashes between Iraqi security forces and

militia fighters broke out for a sixth day in the Mahdi Army

strongholds of the southern port city of Basra.

Baiji:

#1: A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber targeted a Sahwa checkpoint,

20 km to the north of Baiji on the main route of Baghdad/Mosul at 5.30

pm Friday. 1 Sahwa member was killed and 8 were wounded.

#2: Gunmen killed an off-duty army officer and wounded three of his

children inside their car when they were travelling near Baiji, 180 km

(110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Kurkuk:

#1: A police patrol found the body of a policeman in al-Orouba

neighbourhood Friday morning. The policeman was 30 years old; he was

shot to death

Mosul:

#1: Gunmen killed a man inside his car on Thursday in northern Mosul,

390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen killed a man and wounded another one in a drive-by shooting

west of Mosul, police said.

#3: Policemen found two unidentified corpses in the city of Mosul; the

first was found in al-Zahraa neighborhood in eastern Mosul, while the

second was found in Palestine neighborhood in southwestern Mosul," the

source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.

#4: Gunmen launched a mortar attack on an Iraqi army outpost in Mosul,

390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, wounding 11 people including four

women, the U.S. military said.