Your daily round-up of death, destruction and suffering in post-surgeIraq

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War News for Wednesday, March 26, 2008

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad

soldier in a hostile fire attack in an undisclosed location on

Tuesday, March 25th. No other details were released. The Baltimore Sun

reports that the soldiers were attacked with mortar fire in a western

neighborhood of Baghdad according to a military spokesman.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British soldier in a

hostile gunfire attack in Iraq on Wednesday, March 26th. No other

details were released.

The Herald Tribune is reporting the death of an American soldier in a

small-arms fire attack in a northwestern neighborhood of Baghdad on

Wednesday, March 26th according the the military.

Security incidents:

Baghdad:

#1: In addition, rockets and mortar shells rained down on U.S. troops

around Baghdad, killing one American soldier, a U.S. military

spokesman said. A dozen attacks targeted four U.S. bases and the

International Zone, the fortified enclave in the heart of Baghdad that

houses American and Iraqi government offices, Lt. Col. Steven Stover

said.

#2: The fighting has killed 18 others in Baghdad and left scores

injured. Officials say the dead in Basra include Iraqi troops, police,

civilians and militiamen.

#3: In a further incident Wednesday, three U.S. government officials

were seriously injured as militants targeted the International Zone in

Baghdad, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said.

More mortars were fired at the Green Zone on Wednesday, Iraqi

officials said, adding that one hit a residential building outside the

heavily fortified complex killing one person and wounding four.

Around 5:30 a.m. three mortar shells hit the green zone. No reports

about casualties.

Around 9:15 a.m. three mortar shells hit the green zone.

Around 1:00 p.m. mortar shells hit the green zone in downtown Baghdad.

No reports about Casualties.

Around 3:00 p.m. mortar shells hit the green zone. No casualties

reported.

#4: A mortar or rocket round that apparently fell short also struck a

minibus in the mainly Shiite district of Karradah, killing at least

two passengers and wounding seven others, according to police and

hospital officials.

Two were killed and seven wounded when two rounds hit the central Al-

Karada neighbourhood, the officials said.

#5: US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said two

members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in an attack on a

checkpoint in the suburb (Sadr City) late on Tuesday.

#6: Renewed fighting broke out around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday) in

Sadr City, Baghdad bastion of the cleric's Mahdi Army militia,

security officials said. Qassim al-Sueidi, head of the local Imam Ali

hospital, said four people were killed and 24 wounded in the fighting

in the impoverished northeast Baghdad neighbourhood of two million

people.

#7: Sporadic clashes with Iraqi and US troops continued during the day

(in Sadr City), witnesses said.

A New York Times photographer who was able to get through the cordon

found more layers of checkpoints, each one run by about two dozen

heavily armed Mahdi Army fighters clad in tracksuits and T-shirts.

Tires burned in the city center, gunfire echoed against shuttered

stores, and teams of fighters in pickup trucks moved about brandishing

machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

#8: Three people were killed and 12 wounded when three mortar rounds

slammed into the Al-Risala neighbourhood of south-west Baghdad.

#9: Even before the crackdown on militias began on Tuesday, Pentagon

statistics on the frequency of militia and insurgent attacks suggested

that after major security gains last fall, the conflict had drifted

into something of a stalemate. Over all, violence has remained fairly

steady over the past several months, but the streets have become tense

and much more dangerous again after a period of calm.

#10: At a checkpoint downtown, a policeman's radio crackled with the

news of the sniper shooting of a police officer in a nearby

neighborhood.

#11: Five people were injured when members of Mahdi army opened fire

targeting civilians in al Kifah neighborhood in downtown Baghdad

around 8:30 a.m.

#12: Six people were inured when members of Mahdi army opened fire

targeting civilians in Sadoun Street in downtown Baghdad around 9:00

a.m.

#13: A fourth shell hit one of the buildings in Salhiyah street near

the green zone. One civilians was killed and 6 others wounded.

#14: Two civilians were wounded in an IED explosion in al Fallah

intersection in Sadr city in East Baghdad around 11:00 a.m.

#15: Four civilians were inured in clashes between insurgents and the

Iraqi national police in Shaab neighborhood in north Baghdad around

1:30 p.m.

#16: Around 2:00 p.m. clashes broke out between the Iraqi army and

members of Mahdi army in Kadhemiyah neighborhood in North Baghdad. No

casualties were reported.

#17: Four civilians were wounded when a mortar shell hit Beirut

intersection in east Baghdad around 3:00 p.m.

#18: Three civilians were wounded in an IED explosion in Darwish

intersection in Saidiyah neighborhood in South Baghdad around 3:00

p.m.

#19: The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed by

small-arms fire in Baghdad.

The military says the Multi-National Division -- Baghdad soldier was

taken to a hospital after being shot in a northwestern area of the

capital but succumbed to the wounds.

#20: At least one person was killed and four more were wounded on

Wednesday as militants of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militia

clashed with police forces in eastern Baghdad, a source from Iraqi

Interior Ministry said. "Clashes erupted, this afternoon, between

police forces and gunmen from Mahdi army near Sabah al-Khayat square

in al-Shaab neighborhood," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of

Iraq.

#21: the same source said that a mortar round landed, this afternoon,

in Palestine Street, eastern Baghdad, wounding four civilians.

#22: Around 5:30 p.m. a mortar shell hit Kadhemiyah neighborhood in

north Baghdad. No Casualties reported.

#23: An IED exploded targeting a US convoy in Abo Desheer neighborhood

south of Baghdad on Wednesday afternoon. No casualties reported.

#24: Police found three unidentified bodies in the following

neighborhood (1 body in Bonok, 1 body in Ur and 1 body in Bayaa.

Jisr Diyala:

#1: Clashes broke out between the US army and Mahdi army militia in

jisr Diyala area south of Baghdad. No news about casualties reported.

Kut:

#1: Police said Sadr fighters had seized control of seven districts in

the southern town of Kut. A Reuters witness heard heavy clashes near a

government building in the town centre.

#2: Two people was killed and 12 wounded in clashes between Mehdi Army

members and Iraqi security forces in Kut, 175 km (105 miles) southeast

of Baghdad, police said. Police said the militia had taken control of

seven neighbourhoods.

Clashes also broke out for a second day Wednesday in the city of Kut,

175 kilometres (110 miles) southeast of Baghdad, where Iraqi troops

moved in numbers to areas controlled by the Madhi Army, an AFP

correspondent said. Police said a soldier and a woman were killed in

Wednesday's clashes.

#3: Police said at least 10 people, including a baby girl, were killed

and 31 wounded in clashes in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) south of Baghdad.

#4: Unknown gunmen on Wednesday set ablaze the house of a journalist

working for the government-funded Iraqi Media Network in Wassit

province, 180 km southeast of Baghdad, a police source said. "Unknown

gunmen attacked and set ablaze the house of Bashir Taaban, a

journalist working for the Iraqi Media Network in al-Dhubbat

neighborhood, northern Kut," the source, who requested anonymity, told

Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.

#5: Meanwhile, the same source said that mortars fell on two buildings

in central Kut, inflicting huge damage to them.

#6: At least three civilians were killed and five others wounded, all

members of the same family, on Wednesday when a Katyusha rocket fell

on their home in Kut city, 180 km southeast of Baghdad, a police

source said. The attack occurred in Dour al-Shaoun quarter and the

wounded "were in critical condition," the source, who declined to have

his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq

Hilla:

#1: There were also serious clashes in the southern cities of Kut and

Hilla.

Clashes resumed between Mehdi army and Iraqi security forces in three

districts of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Many people were killed and wounded by a U.S. air strike called in

support of Iraqi forces in the town of Hilla south of Baghdad, Iraqi

security sources said. One police source said at least 11 people were

killed and 18 wounded in the strike, launched after Iraqi security

forces called for support following street battles with Shi'ite

militia members in the city's Thawra neighborhood. Another police

source said 29 people were killed and 39 were wounded.

Two other security sources said the combined total of dead and wounded

was in the dozens, although they were unable to give precise casualty

figures. All of the sources spoke under condition they not be named.

At least 60 people were killed and wounded when the MNF helicopters

bombed the neighborhoods of al Askari and Nadir in Babil province

south of Baghdad, the spokesman the Iraqi police in Babil province

Muthanna Ahmed said. The MNF couldn't immediately confirm the strike.

Diwaniya:

#1: Two gunmen were killed and three others were arrested in armed

confrontations between security forces and gunmen at the center of

Diwaniya city on Tuesday, commander of al-Baqr Emergency Brigade said

on Wednesday. "Clashes took place on Tuesday afternoon, between

security forces and gunmen, on streets 30 and 60 in the center of

Diwaniya city," Colonel Ghasan Mohammed told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of

Iraq.

#2: One Iraqi soldier was killed in eastern Diwaniya, 180 km (112

miles) south of Baghdad, in clashes between Iraqi security forces and

Mehdi Army militants, according to an army source.

Amarra:

#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were killed late Tuesday in armed

confrontations between army forces and unknown gunmen, a security

source said on Wednesday. "Armed clashes broke out between Iraqi army

troops and unidentified armed men near the intersection of Jisr al-

Joumhouriya in central Amara, during which two soldiers were killed

and three Hummers were destroyed," the source told Aswat al-Iraq -

Voices of Iraq

Najaf:

#1: A ceasefire ordered by Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remains in

effect despite a crackdown on his followers in the southern city of

Basra by government forces, a top aide said on Wednesday. "The freeze

that Sadr has ordered is still ongoing," one of Sadr's senior aides,

Luwaa Sumaisem, told Reuters in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf.

#2: A mortar shell hit al Mujtaba police station in downtown Najaf

city south of Baghdad around 8:15 p.m. causing casualties among the

staff of the police station, police said. The police of Najaf

announced a curfew in the city until further notice.

#3: Two mortar shells hit an agricultural area south of Najaf city

around 8:00 p.m. no reports about casualties.

#4: A mortar shell hit the airport of Najaf around 8:00 p.m. no

casualties reported.

Basra:

#1: Iraq's prime minister Wednesday gave Shiite militants battling

security forces in Basra a 72-hour deadline to surrender

#2: In addition, at least 30 Iraqi security force members were

kidnapped by militia fighters in Basra, he said.

#3: Militiamen used roadside bombs to bring down part of a bridge in

northern Basra on Tuesday, witnesses and police reported, hindering

the movement of security forces.

#4: the death toll from two days of fighting that threatens to undo

efforts to stabilize Iraq neared 50. The fighting has killed 40 to 50

people in Basra. and left scores injured. Officials say the dead in

Basra include Iraqi troops, police, civilians and militiamen.

Medical source in Basra province south of Baghdad said that 33 people

were killed and 150 others were wounded in the clashes that took place

between the Iraqi security forces and Mahdi army in different

neighborhoods of the province.

#5: Heavy gun battles continue to rage in five districts after a brief

lull.

Fighting also broke after dawn between Mahdi Army fighters and Iraqi

troops in Basra. Battles were raging in the Mahdi Army strongholds of

Al-Gaazaiza, Al-Garma, Khmasamene, Al-Hayania and Al-Maqal

neighbourhoods of Basra, witnesses said.

Basra police said heavy gunbattles restarted early Wednesday in five

districts of Basra after a brief lull. Mortars or rocket attacks

regularly struck Iraqi security checkpoints and bases.

#6: Police said 218 militiamen had been detained since the launch of

the security sweep, which has been codenamed Saulat al-Fursan (Charge

of the Knights).

#7: They said however there were fewer security force personnel on the

streets than on Tuesday, when police and troops deployed in vast

numbers across Basra.

#8: Another official in the Basra office, speaking on condition of

anonymity, warned that "The Sadr current (or movement) is threatening

to set fire to the oil wells in Basra if the Iraqi military continues

its security plan." Al-Sadr's representatives walked out of parliament

yesterday to protest the crackdown in Basra.

Oil production and exports from Iraq's southern oilfields could be

disrupted in three days if workers cannot reach their offices due to

fighting in Basra, a Southern Oil Company official told Reuters on

Wednesday. If the military operations continue for three more days,

the oil workers will not be able to continue their work and this is

going to definitely affect oil production and exports," said the

official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Oil workers in the

Basra province work 24-hour shifts and have not been replaced since

Tuesday, the oil company official said. "The workers are now going

through a very hard time with shortages of food, and are tired from

the heat because they are not being replaced," he said.

#9: Several mortar rounds struck a police compound in Basra where

prisoners were being held. Seven police and three prisoners were

wounded.

#10: It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm

the death of a British soldier in Iraq today, 26 March 2008. The

soldier died as a result of gunshot wounds sustained during a

firefight in the early hours of this morning.

#11: Four policemen were killed when their vehicle was targeted with

RBG7 rocket near Basra police directorate on Wednesday afternoon.

#12: Mortar shells hit Basra police directorate in downtown Basra

city. No casualties were reported, three police vehicles were damaged.

Tikrit:

#1: At least five people were killed and 11 injured Tuesday when US

forces attacked the Iraqi city of Tikrit, some 180 kilometres north of

Baghdad, Iraqi police said Wednesday. US military forces attacked the

houses of Tikrit's Qadesiya district late Tuesday, while helicopters

hovered over the city until the early hours of Wednesday. Hassan

Ahmed, an Iraqi police official, told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa

that US airstrikes hit a house in the city, killing four people,

including a 10-year-old girl, and injuring another 11 Iraqis. The

wounded included five women and five children. US forces detained one

civilian during the attack.

Five Iraqi civilians including a judge were killed by a U.S. airstrike

in the northern town of Tikrit on Wednesday, Iraqi police said. In a

statement, US forces acknowledged that the civilians had been killed

during a battle with alleged Al Qaida Sunni militants, which started

after the airstrikes from fixed-wing aircraft. Iraqi police said five

civilians were killed and 10 wounded in the air strike. The dead

included Munaf Mehdi, a judge in the town.

#3: A source in Tikrit hospital said that a patrol from the 1st

battalion the 14 brigade brought the body of Mohammed Shakir Mahmoud

who died after being tortured by aa US sponsored militia near al

Mamlaha village east of Samara on Wednesday morning.

#4: At least nine people, including seven anti-Qaeda (Sahwa) fighters

were wounded on Wednesday as a suicide bomber detonated a car rigged

with explosives at a checkpoint near Tikrit, a police source said. The

explosion occurred "on the main road leading to Mosul near al-Awjah

village."

Tuz Khurmatu:

#1: A source in the Iraqi police in Tuz Khurmatu said that the Syrian

trucks drivers who were kidnapped in 4-3-2008 were released. The

drivers (Abdul salam Mohammed Na'os, Bakir Hasan Faqosh, Adil Ramo

Mahmoud, Abdul Kareem Ramo Mohammed and Ghassan Mohammed")were

kidnapped on Baghdad- Kirkuk Street.