J
John B.
Guest
War News for Thursday, March 27, 2008
MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad
soldier in a hostile fire attack in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad
on Wednesday, March 26th. Eight other soldier were wounded in the
attack.
Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: A giant column of black smoke was visible near the U.S. embassy in
Baghdad's Green Zone on Thursday after an apparent mortar strike, a
Reuters reporter said.
Several mortars fell onto the fortified Green Zone, central Baghdad,
on Thursday, a number of workers in the Green Zone said, while the
U.S. forces confirmed the attack."Several mortar rounds fell onto the
fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad and billows of black smoke
were seen rising from the area with no word on casualties," the
workers, who refused to mention their names, told Aswat al-Iraq -
Voices of Iraq.
Mortar rounds crashed into the heavily fortified Green Zone for the
third straight day, injuring three U.S. government employees, all U.S.
citizens, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo.
12 mortars hit the Green Zone starting at 10 am until this report was
prepared at 2 pm, Thursday, said Iraqi Police. The U.S. Embassy said
no one was injured.
The Green Zone diplomatic and government compound in central Baghdad
was hit by repeated rocket and mortar fire in some of the worst
barrages in months.
#2: Fighting has spread to Sadr's stronghold in Baghdad and other
cities, with at least 50 people killed in the clashes countrywide
since Tuesday, according to Iraqi officials.
Officials said the death toll from clashes in Sadr City Tuesday and
Wednesday had risen to 30.
Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad on Thursday received 20 soldiers wounded
in the clashes that flared up between al-Mahdi army fighters and
security forces in the southern Iraqi province of Basra, a medical
source said. The hospital received 20 wounded soldiers, most of them
are in critical condition," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of
Iraq.
Updating Sadr City news, since the fighting started on Monday until
now, the toll has reached 38 killed and 47 wounded, Iraqi police said.
#3: Iraqi officials reported 17 more people killed in overnight
clashes in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City
#4: The U.S. military said Wednesday that 16 rockets had slammed into
the U.S.-protected Green Zone. One soldier with the U.S.-led
coalition, two American civilians and an Iraqi soldier were wounded in
the attacks, it said.
#5: In other violence reported by police, a booby-trapped car exploded
near the Iraqi Red Crescent Society's offices in Baghdad, killing two
civilians and wounding five.
#6: A roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol on a road through Sadr City
late on Wednesday and American troops cordoned off the area, a U.S.
military spokesman said. He did not give information on casualties.
#7: An official source in the Electricity Ministry said that most
power stations stopped functioning because of direct armed attacks in
central and southern Iraq in the last two days. "Most power plants and
energy lines were attacked in the last two days by mortar shells and
machine guns," the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq
- Voices of Iraq. The attacks damaged several stations and suspended
the work there," he added. "The Ministry, through the operations room
headed by Oil Minister Karim Wahid, continues its work to have the
power restored," he also said.Baghdad has been suffering under a
blackout since yesterday, which disturbed the daily life of citizens.
#8: Several mortar shells were fired on Thursday morning at a U.S.
base in southeastern Baghdad, while sirens continued to wail inside
the base, said a police source. "Five mortar rounds landed on the U.S.
al-Rustoumiya base in southeastern Baghdad," the source, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq. "U.S.
forces cordoned off several streets near the base while aircrafts
scoured the area for the source of the attack," the source explained.
#9: A mortar barrage hit the Ur neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad,
killing a civilian and wounding two others, the source told Xinhua on
condition of anonymity.
#10: Two more mortar rounds landed on the Karrada neighborhood in
central Baghdad, wounding a civilian, the source said.
#11: Xinhua correspondent at the scene saw one mortar round hit the
street in front of the Iranian Embassy to Iraq just outside the Green
Zone, which houses the Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies,
including the U.S. one.
#12: Around midday, fierce clashes erupted between Mahdi Army militia,
loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and Iraqi security forces in
the Shiite neighborhood of Tobchi, the source said. The clashes broke
out when gunmen from Mahdi Army attacked the Shiite mosque of al-Salam
which affiliated to a rival Shiite faction in the neighborhood,
prompting the guards of the mosque to fire back, he said. Sounds of
explosions and machinegun rattled in the neighborhood as black smoke
could be seen rising over the area.
#13: Three people were killed and 15 wounded by a mortar attack on a
bus terminal in central Baghdad, police said.
3 mortars hit al-Alawi bus station, central Baghdad, killing 2
civilians, injuring 15.
#14: Gunmen attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in the Sadr City
district of northeastern Baghdad, wounding four soldiers, police said.
#15: An Interior Ministry official says the well-known civilian
spokesman for the Baghdad security operation has been kidnapped and
three bodyguards killed in an ambush in the capital.
The attack against Tahseen Sheikhly comes amid fierce clashes between
Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia fighters in Baghdad and
several southern cities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because he wasn't authorized to release the information. The official
says gunmen stormed Sheikhly's house Thursday in a Mahdi Army
stronghold in southeastern Baghdad and torched it.
#16: For the third day, Shiite militias loyal to Sadr sealed off their
neighborhoods, blocking roads with refrigerators, burning tires and
garbage. Residents were forced to close shops and stay home from work
and schools.
#17: A South African citizen was killed in Iraq this week, the foreign
affairs department said on Thursday.It declined to give the name of
the man who died on Wednesday. Details of the incident were also not
immediately available. The department said in a statement the family
of the deceased had been informed, and assistance would be given with
the repatriation of the body.
#18: Two people were killed and 12 wounded when mortar shells fell in
Karaj Alawy area in Baghdad, as two other mortar shells fell eastern
the Iraqi capital.
#19: Clashes in al-Mansour district, from Iskan neighbourhood to Abu
Jafar al-Mansour began this morning between Mahdi Army members and
security forces. 3 Iraqi Army soldiers were injured and the clashes
continued at the time of publication
#20: Clashes between Mahdi Army members and National Police in al-Amin
neighbourhood started this morning and continue until the preparation
of this report at 2 pm. Casualties have not been reported until this
time.
#21: The office of al-Da'wa Party in al-Shaab neighbourhood has been
torched, causing only material damages.
#22: Shi'ite militants clashed with Iraqi security forces in Baghdad's
Washash, Iskan, Shurta, Hurriya, Kamiliya, Fudhailiya, Ur, Shula,
Mashtal and Sadr City districts, Baghdad security plan spokesman Major-
General Qassim Moussawi said. Civilians and security force members had
been killed or wounded, he said, but he gave no figures.
#23: Eight soldiers were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters
in Talabiya in eastern Baghdad, police said.
#24: Also Thursday, a U.S. government official was killed when
militants fired rockets into the Green Zone, a spokesman for the U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad said.
#25: A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed at
approximately 4:30 p.m. March 27 after being struck by an improvised
explosive device in eastern Baghdad while conducting a combat patrol.
#26: One person was killed and four others wounded when two mortar
rounds landed on an Interior Ministry prison in eastern Baghdad,
police said.
#27: Two soldiers were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in
Zaafaraniya district in southern Baghdad, police said.
#28: Nine people were killed and 95 others wounded in clashes between
Iraqi security forces and Mehdi Army members in different parts of
Baghdad, said Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi
security forces in Baghdad.
Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: Four unknown bodies were found on Thursday in Baladruz, southeast
of Diala, a security source said. "Police patrols found four
unidentified bodies on the main road in Baladruz district," the
source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.
Muqdadiyah:
#1: Iraqi and US forces found 37 bodies in a mass grave uncovered in
the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday, a
US military statement said. The grave was found near the town of
Muqdadiyah in the province which is a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Iraq
militants.
Mahaweel:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing four
policemen and wounding four in the town of Mahaweel, 75 km (45 miles)
south of Baghdad, police said.
Diwaniya:
#1: In Diwaniyah, seven Iraqi soldiers and a policeman died in clashes
with the Mahdi Army. Two Shiite militiamen were killed, provincial
police said.
#2: One gunman was killed and eight others captured after they
attacked a police patrol in central Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south
of Baghdad, army Colonel Ghasan Mohammed said. One policeman was
wounded in the attack.
Wassit Prv:
#1: (Kut) The death toll from the armed clashes that flared up last
Monday between security forces and gunmen in Wassit rose to 40 dead
and 75 wounded, the chief of local police said on Thursday. The death
toll from the clashes in the province rose to 40 dead and 75 wounded,
all of them civilians, including women and children," General Abdul
Hanin Hamoud Saleh al-Amara said at a press conference in Wassit.
"Police and army forces, backed by U.S. troops, controlled the
province," he added.
Kut:
#1: At least 44 people were killed in clashes Thursday between Iraqi
and US forces, and Shiite militiamen in the central Iraqi city of Kut,
police chief Abdul Hanin al-Amara told AFP. "The security forces
launched an operation at around midnight (2100 GMT Wednesday) to take
back areas under the control of Shiite gunmen," Amara said. "At least
40 gunmen and four policemen were killed. Around 75 people were
wounded. Police have now imposed full control on these neighbourhoods
Maysan Prv:
#1: On Tuesday night, a bomb damaged a domestic oil pipeline that
links the Noor oil field in the southern Maysan province to the
refinery in Basra, officials said. It was expected to take several
days to repair the damage.
Amarra:
#1: Gunmen torch Badr Organization Bureau located in Hitteen Square,
in the centre of Amara city. They launched 4 RPGs at the bureau, three
of which hit the bureau and burned the building to the ground. The
fourth hit an adjacent house, injuring one of its inhabitants.
#2: Clashes between Iraqi Army and Mahdi Army members as the regular
army was crossing what is commonly known as the Yugoslav Bridge, north
Amara. 2 civilians were killed and 7 injured by cross fire.
Karbala:
#1: Two cops, including an officer, were killed and eight more were
wounded in the clashes," he added.An eyewitness from al-Ghadier
region, 3 km south of Karbala, told the VOI that unknown armed men
attacked a checkpoint on Wednesday night and set two police vehicles
ablaze.Another witness from al-Askari neighborhood said clashes broke
out at 8 pm on Wednesday between policemen and gunmen.
#2: A mortar round landed on a police station," he noted.
Nassiriya:
#1: Gunmen attacked Iraqi troops heading to Basra, killing two
soldiers in the town of al-Rifai, near Nassiriya, 375 km (235 miles)
southwest of Baghdad, police said.
Hilla:
#1: In the central city of Hilla, where Iraqi forces have been
battling Shiite militiamen, four policemen were killed in a bomb
attack, police said.
Three policemen were killed and four others were wounded on Thursday
when an explosive charge went off south of Hilla, a police source
said. "An improvised explosive device went off targeting a police
vehicle patrol in al-Kafl region, south of Hilla, killing three
policemen and injuring four," the source, who requested anonymity,
told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq
#2: the number of deaths from fighting in the southern city of Hillah
to at least 60.
Clashes have resumed in the city centre of Hilla city causing the
injury of 30 people, 22 of whom were police and army, 8 civilians
amongst who was a woman and the death of 1 soldier and 2 policemen.
#3: Clashes in Chiffel neibourhood inside Hilla city continue, and the
offices of al-Da'wa Party and the Supreme Council were torched by
members of al-Mahdi Army causing the death of 3 policemen and the
injury of 4.
Hamza:
#1: Three policemen were killed and three others, including two
soldiers, were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in Hamza,
35 km (22 miles) south of Hilla, police said.
Basra:
#1: Meanwhile, a bomb Thursday struck the key Zubair-1 crude pipeline
-- the largest pipeline to the Basra export terminal -- and will
likely affect exports "heavily," the South Oil Company official said.
Iraqi oil workers will need three days to repair a crude export
pipeline in the south which was bombed on Thursday, if a raging fire
is put out, a Southern Oil Company official told Reuters.
"Firefighters are struggling to control the fire, which is huge. A lot
of crude has spilt onto the ground. The main pumping station of Zubair
1 was shut down. We will not be able to repair it unless security is
provided for the crews," the official said.
#2: "Power cuts and shift workers unable to reach their work places in
oil fields and pumping stations have reduced Iraq's crude oil
production and exports," the official said by telephone from Basra. He
didn't say how much crude oil production and exports were reduced. A
shipping agent in the Persian Gulf Thursday said the rate of Iraqi oil
exports from southern terminals has been down to 50,000 barrels an
hour, or 1.2 million barrels a day. That is below the normal rate of
around 65,000 barrels an hour, or 1.56 million barrels a day.
#3: "If the government doesn't take necessary measures to reduce power
cuts and help oil workers reach their work places and transport food
to workers in these work places, production would be suspended as soon
as tomorrow (Friday)," the SOC official said, adding workers cannot
reach their work places and there is a lack of food because of the
curfew imposed by the government in and around Basra province.
#4: In Basra, residents have said that they are beginning to run out
of food and water.
#5: Basra's police chief Adbul Jalil Khalaf said he survived an
assassination attempt overnight, in which three of his bodyguards were
killed.
#6: Heavy fighting erupted in a bastion of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-
Sadr's militia in Basra onThursday, witnesses said, as military
operations against gunmen in the southern city entered a third day. An
AFP correspondent said rocket propelled grenades and mortar, machine
gun and small arms fire rocked the central Jumhuriyah neighbourhood
from early morning. Iraqi troops launched security operations on
Tuesday in neighbourhoods controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
under orders from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to rid the city of
"lawless gangs".
There was fighting Thursday in Jamhouriya, one of five neighborhoods
the Mehdi Army controls, and Muqal, according to an official from
Basra province and witnesses. Speaking on a condition of anonymity,
the provincial official said weapons such as machine guns and grenades
were stolen from a military post in the Muqal area.
An assault by thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police officers to
regain control of the southern port city of Basra stalled Wednesday as
Shiite militiamen in the Mahdi Army fought daylong hit-and-run battles
and refused to withdraw from the neighborhoods that form their base of
power there.
Col. Abbas al-Tamimi, media officer for the 14th Iraqi Army Division
operating in the city, said he expected the fighting to escalate. "The
gunmen have heavier and more sophisticated weapons than we have," he
said.
#7: The International Committee of the Red Cross put the toll from the
Basra clashes at 20 dead but other, unconfirmed reports said 40 were
killed.
#8: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is promising to pursue his fight
against Shiite militias in Basra to ''the end.'' Al-Maliki made his
pledge to Basra area tribal leaders Thursday as military operations
against the militias continued for a fourth day despite stiff
resistance. Al-Maliki told the leaders ''we have made up our minds''
to enter the fight ''and we will continue until the end. No retreat.''
Samarra:
#1: Gunmen also killed a U.S.-allied Sunni fighter and wounded his
wife and daughter after storming his house in the northern city of
Samarra late Wednesday.
Gunmen attack a Sahwa, US sponsored militia, member's house in al-
Khadhraa neighbourhood, downtown Samara and kill both him and his son
and injured his wife and one of his daughters. Joint forces, Iraqi
army and US military announce a curfew in order to search for the
armed group, said First Lieutenant Muthanna Shakir. US military did
not include this report in their release.
Daquq:
#1: Gunmen attacked an Iraqi army patrol in the town of Daquq, 45 km
(30 miles) south of Kirkuk, killing four soldiers, police said.
Baiji:
#1: A mortar shell fell on Tel al-Jarad, Baiji city, yesterday evening
killing a woman Mona Ajaj, injuring 5 civilians, amongst whom were 3
children and a woman.
#2: IED exploded targeting a soldier as he left his home going to
work, in Malha neighbourhood, north Baiji, causing his death.
Kirkuk:
#1: A Kurdish police officer was killed Thursday and six members of
the Kurdish security forces were wounded in an explosion in the city
of Kirkuk, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, media reports said.
The Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency said that a vehicle bomb targeted
a Kurdish patrol in Kirkuk's Qods street. The blast killed a police
officer and wounded six members of the Kurdish forces.
A car bomb killed two Kurdish Peshmerga security force members and
wounded six, including two civilians, in the northern city of Kirkuk,
250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: Police forces on Thursday managed to defuse a bomb, planted on a
road in central Falluja, a police source said.
MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad
soldier in a hostile fire attack in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad
on Wednesday, March 26th. Eight other soldier were wounded in the
attack.
Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: A giant column of black smoke was visible near the U.S. embassy in
Baghdad's Green Zone on Thursday after an apparent mortar strike, a
Reuters reporter said.
Several mortars fell onto the fortified Green Zone, central Baghdad,
on Thursday, a number of workers in the Green Zone said, while the
U.S. forces confirmed the attack."Several mortar rounds fell onto the
fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad and billows of black smoke
were seen rising from the area with no word on casualties," the
workers, who refused to mention their names, told Aswat al-Iraq -
Voices of Iraq.
Mortar rounds crashed into the heavily fortified Green Zone for the
third straight day, injuring three U.S. government employees, all U.S.
citizens, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo.
12 mortars hit the Green Zone starting at 10 am until this report was
prepared at 2 pm, Thursday, said Iraqi Police. The U.S. Embassy said
no one was injured.
The Green Zone diplomatic and government compound in central Baghdad
was hit by repeated rocket and mortar fire in some of the worst
barrages in months.
#2: Fighting has spread to Sadr's stronghold in Baghdad and other
cities, with at least 50 people killed in the clashes countrywide
since Tuesday, according to Iraqi officials.
Officials said the death toll from clashes in Sadr City Tuesday and
Wednesday had risen to 30.
Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad on Thursday received 20 soldiers wounded
in the clashes that flared up between al-Mahdi army fighters and
security forces in the southern Iraqi province of Basra, a medical
source said. The hospital received 20 wounded soldiers, most of them
are in critical condition," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of
Iraq.
Updating Sadr City news, since the fighting started on Monday until
now, the toll has reached 38 killed and 47 wounded, Iraqi police said.
#3: Iraqi officials reported 17 more people killed in overnight
clashes in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City
#4: The U.S. military said Wednesday that 16 rockets had slammed into
the U.S.-protected Green Zone. One soldier with the U.S.-led
coalition, two American civilians and an Iraqi soldier were wounded in
the attacks, it said.
#5: In other violence reported by police, a booby-trapped car exploded
near the Iraqi Red Crescent Society's offices in Baghdad, killing two
civilians and wounding five.
#6: A roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol on a road through Sadr City
late on Wednesday and American troops cordoned off the area, a U.S.
military spokesman said. He did not give information on casualties.
#7: An official source in the Electricity Ministry said that most
power stations stopped functioning because of direct armed attacks in
central and southern Iraq in the last two days. "Most power plants and
energy lines were attacked in the last two days by mortar shells and
machine guns," the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq
- Voices of Iraq. The attacks damaged several stations and suspended
the work there," he added. "The Ministry, through the operations room
headed by Oil Minister Karim Wahid, continues its work to have the
power restored," he also said.Baghdad has been suffering under a
blackout since yesterday, which disturbed the daily life of citizens.
#8: Several mortar shells were fired on Thursday morning at a U.S.
base in southeastern Baghdad, while sirens continued to wail inside
the base, said a police source. "Five mortar rounds landed on the U.S.
al-Rustoumiya base in southeastern Baghdad," the source, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq. "U.S.
forces cordoned off several streets near the base while aircrafts
scoured the area for the source of the attack," the source explained.
#9: A mortar barrage hit the Ur neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad,
killing a civilian and wounding two others, the source told Xinhua on
condition of anonymity.
#10: Two more mortar rounds landed on the Karrada neighborhood in
central Baghdad, wounding a civilian, the source said.
#11: Xinhua correspondent at the scene saw one mortar round hit the
street in front of the Iranian Embassy to Iraq just outside the Green
Zone, which houses the Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies,
including the U.S. one.
#12: Around midday, fierce clashes erupted between Mahdi Army militia,
loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and Iraqi security forces in
the Shiite neighborhood of Tobchi, the source said. The clashes broke
out when gunmen from Mahdi Army attacked the Shiite mosque of al-Salam
which affiliated to a rival Shiite faction in the neighborhood,
prompting the guards of the mosque to fire back, he said. Sounds of
explosions and machinegun rattled in the neighborhood as black smoke
could be seen rising over the area.
#13: Three people were killed and 15 wounded by a mortar attack on a
bus terminal in central Baghdad, police said.
3 mortars hit al-Alawi bus station, central Baghdad, killing 2
civilians, injuring 15.
#14: Gunmen attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in the Sadr City
district of northeastern Baghdad, wounding four soldiers, police said.
#15: An Interior Ministry official says the well-known civilian
spokesman for the Baghdad security operation has been kidnapped and
three bodyguards killed in an ambush in the capital.
The attack against Tahseen Sheikhly comes amid fierce clashes between
Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia fighters in Baghdad and
several southern cities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because he wasn't authorized to release the information. The official
says gunmen stormed Sheikhly's house Thursday in a Mahdi Army
stronghold in southeastern Baghdad and torched it.
#16: For the third day, Shiite militias loyal to Sadr sealed off their
neighborhoods, blocking roads with refrigerators, burning tires and
garbage. Residents were forced to close shops and stay home from work
and schools.
#17: A South African citizen was killed in Iraq this week, the foreign
affairs department said on Thursday.It declined to give the name of
the man who died on Wednesday. Details of the incident were also not
immediately available. The department said in a statement the family
of the deceased had been informed, and assistance would be given with
the repatriation of the body.
#18: Two people were killed and 12 wounded when mortar shells fell in
Karaj Alawy area in Baghdad, as two other mortar shells fell eastern
the Iraqi capital.
#19: Clashes in al-Mansour district, from Iskan neighbourhood to Abu
Jafar al-Mansour began this morning between Mahdi Army members and
security forces. 3 Iraqi Army soldiers were injured and the clashes
continued at the time of publication
#20: Clashes between Mahdi Army members and National Police in al-Amin
neighbourhood started this morning and continue until the preparation
of this report at 2 pm. Casualties have not been reported until this
time.
#21: The office of al-Da'wa Party in al-Shaab neighbourhood has been
torched, causing only material damages.
#22: Shi'ite militants clashed with Iraqi security forces in Baghdad's
Washash, Iskan, Shurta, Hurriya, Kamiliya, Fudhailiya, Ur, Shula,
Mashtal and Sadr City districts, Baghdad security plan spokesman Major-
General Qassim Moussawi said. Civilians and security force members had
been killed or wounded, he said, but he gave no figures.
#23: Eight soldiers were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters
in Talabiya in eastern Baghdad, police said.
#24: Also Thursday, a U.S. government official was killed when
militants fired rockets into the Green Zone, a spokesman for the U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad said.
#25: A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed at
approximately 4:30 p.m. March 27 after being struck by an improvised
explosive device in eastern Baghdad while conducting a combat patrol.
#26: One person was killed and four others wounded when two mortar
rounds landed on an Interior Ministry prison in eastern Baghdad,
police said.
#27: Two soldiers were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in
Zaafaraniya district in southern Baghdad, police said.
#28: Nine people were killed and 95 others wounded in clashes between
Iraqi security forces and Mehdi Army members in different parts of
Baghdad, said Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi
security forces in Baghdad.
Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: Four unknown bodies were found on Thursday in Baladruz, southeast
of Diala, a security source said. "Police patrols found four
unidentified bodies on the main road in Baladruz district," the
source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.
Muqdadiyah:
#1: Iraqi and US forces found 37 bodies in a mass grave uncovered in
the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday, a
US military statement said. The grave was found near the town of
Muqdadiyah in the province which is a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Iraq
militants.
Mahaweel:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing four
policemen and wounding four in the town of Mahaweel, 75 km (45 miles)
south of Baghdad, police said.
Diwaniya:
#1: In Diwaniyah, seven Iraqi soldiers and a policeman died in clashes
with the Mahdi Army. Two Shiite militiamen were killed, provincial
police said.
#2: One gunman was killed and eight others captured after they
attacked a police patrol in central Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south
of Baghdad, army Colonel Ghasan Mohammed said. One policeman was
wounded in the attack.
Wassit Prv:
#1: (Kut) The death toll from the armed clashes that flared up last
Monday between security forces and gunmen in Wassit rose to 40 dead
and 75 wounded, the chief of local police said on Thursday. The death
toll from the clashes in the province rose to 40 dead and 75 wounded,
all of them civilians, including women and children," General Abdul
Hanin Hamoud Saleh al-Amara said at a press conference in Wassit.
"Police and army forces, backed by U.S. troops, controlled the
province," he added.
Kut:
#1: At least 44 people were killed in clashes Thursday between Iraqi
and US forces, and Shiite militiamen in the central Iraqi city of Kut,
police chief Abdul Hanin al-Amara told AFP. "The security forces
launched an operation at around midnight (2100 GMT Wednesday) to take
back areas under the control of Shiite gunmen," Amara said. "At least
40 gunmen and four policemen were killed. Around 75 people were
wounded. Police have now imposed full control on these neighbourhoods
Maysan Prv:
#1: On Tuesday night, a bomb damaged a domestic oil pipeline that
links the Noor oil field in the southern Maysan province to the
refinery in Basra, officials said. It was expected to take several
days to repair the damage.
Amarra:
#1: Gunmen torch Badr Organization Bureau located in Hitteen Square,
in the centre of Amara city. They launched 4 RPGs at the bureau, three
of which hit the bureau and burned the building to the ground. The
fourth hit an adjacent house, injuring one of its inhabitants.
#2: Clashes between Iraqi Army and Mahdi Army members as the regular
army was crossing what is commonly known as the Yugoslav Bridge, north
Amara. 2 civilians were killed and 7 injured by cross fire.
Karbala:
#1: Two cops, including an officer, were killed and eight more were
wounded in the clashes," he added.An eyewitness from al-Ghadier
region, 3 km south of Karbala, told the VOI that unknown armed men
attacked a checkpoint on Wednesday night and set two police vehicles
ablaze.Another witness from al-Askari neighborhood said clashes broke
out at 8 pm on Wednesday between policemen and gunmen.
#2: A mortar round landed on a police station," he noted.
Nassiriya:
#1: Gunmen attacked Iraqi troops heading to Basra, killing two
soldiers in the town of al-Rifai, near Nassiriya, 375 km (235 miles)
southwest of Baghdad, police said.
Hilla:
#1: In the central city of Hilla, where Iraqi forces have been
battling Shiite militiamen, four policemen were killed in a bomb
attack, police said.
Three policemen were killed and four others were wounded on Thursday
when an explosive charge went off south of Hilla, a police source
said. "An improvised explosive device went off targeting a police
vehicle patrol in al-Kafl region, south of Hilla, killing three
policemen and injuring four," the source, who requested anonymity,
told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq
#2: the number of deaths from fighting in the southern city of Hillah
to at least 60.
Clashes have resumed in the city centre of Hilla city causing the
injury of 30 people, 22 of whom were police and army, 8 civilians
amongst who was a woman and the death of 1 soldier and 2 policemen.
#3: Clashes in Chiffel neibourhood inside Hilla city continue, and the
offices of al-Da'wa Party and the Supreme Council were torched by
members of al-Mahdi Army causing the death of 3 policemen and the
injury of 4.
Hamza:
#1: Three policemen were killed and three others, including two
soldiers, were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in Hamza,
35 km (22 miles) south of Hilla, police said.
Basra:
#1: Meanwhile, a bomb Thursday struck the key Zubair-1 crude pipeline
-- the largest pipeline to the Basra export terminal -- and will
likely affect exports "heavily," the South Oil Company official said.
Iraqi oil workers will need three days to repair a crude export
pipeline in the south which was bombed on Thursday, if a raging fire
is put out, a Southern Oil Company official told Reuters.
"Firefighters are struggling to control the fire, which is huge. A lot
of crude has spilt onto the ground. The main pumping station of Zubair
1 was shut down. We will not be able to repair it unless security is
provided for the crews," the official said.
#2: "Power cuts and shift workers unable to reach their work places in
oil fields and pumping stations have reduced Iraq's crude oil
production and exports," the official said by telephone from Basra. He
didn't say how much crude oil production and exports were reduced. A
shipping agent in the Persian Gulf Thursday said the rate of Iraqi oil
exports from southern terminals has been down to 50,000 barrels an
hour, or 1.2 million barrels a day. That is below the normal rate of
around 65,000 barrels an hour, or 1.56 million barrels a day.
#3: "If the government doesn't take necessary measures to reduce power
cuts and help oil workers reach their work places and transport food
to workers in these work places, production would be suspended as soon
as tomorrow (Friday)," the SOC official said, adding workers cannot
reach their work places and there is a lack of food because of the
curfew imposed by the government in and around Basra province.
#4: In Basra, residents have said that they are beginning to run out
of food and water.
#5: Basra's police chief Adbul Jalil Khalaf said he survived an
assassination attempt overnight, in which three of his bodyguards were
killed.
#6: Heavy fighting erupted in a bastion of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-
Sadr's militia in Basra onThursday, witnesses said, as military
operations against gunmen in the southern city entered a third day. An
AFP correspondent said rocket propelled grenades and mortar, machine
gun and small arms fire rocked the central Jumhuriyah neighbourhood
from early morning. Iraqi troops launched security operations on
Tuesday in neighbourhoods controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
under orders from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to rid the city of
"lawless gangs".
There was fighting Thursday in Jamhouriya, one of five neighborhoods
the Mehdi Army controls, and Muqal, according to an official from
Basra province and witnesses. Speaking on a condition of anonymity,
the provincial official said weapons such as machine guns and grenades
were stolen from a military post in the Muqal area.
An assault by thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police officers to
regain control of the southern port city of Basra stalled Wednesday as
Shiite militiamen in the Mahdi Army fought daylong hit-and-run battles
and refused to withdraw from the neighborhoods that form their base of
power there.
Col. Abbas al-Tamimi, media officer for the 14th Iraqi Army Division
operating in the city, said he expected the fighting to escalate. "The
gunmen have heavier and more sophisticated weapons than we have," he
said.
#7: The International Committee of the Red Cross put the toll from the
Basra clashes at 20 dead but other, unconfirmed reports said 40 were
killed.
#8: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is promising to pursue his fight
against Shiite militias in Basra to ''the end.'' Al-Maliki made his
pledge to Basra area tribal leaders Thursday as military operations
against the militias continued for a fourth day despite stiff
resistance. Al-Maliki told the leaders ''we have made up our minds''
to enter the fight ''and we will continue until the end. No retreat.''
Samarra:
#1: Gunmen also killed a U.S.-allied Sunni fighter and wounded his
wife and daughter after storming his house in the northern city of
Samarra late Wednesday.
Gunmen attack a Sahwa, US sponsored militia, member's house in al-
Khadhraa neighbourhood, downtown Samara and kill both him and his son
and injured his wife and one of his daughters. Joint forces, Iraqi
army and US military announce a curfew in order to search for the
armed group, said First Lieutenant Muthanna Shakir. US military did
not include this report in their release.
Daquq:
#1: Gunmen attacked an Iraqi army patrol in the town of Daquq, 45 km
(30 miles) south of Kirkuk, killing four soldiers, police said.
Baiji:
#1: A mortar shell fell on Tel al-Jarad, Baiji city, yesterday evening
killing a woman Mona Ajaj, injuring 5 civilians, amongst whom were 3
children and a woman.
#2: IED exploded targeting a soldier as he left his home going to
work, in Malha neighbourhood, north Baiji, causing his death.
Kirkuk:
#1: A Kurdish police officer was killed Thursday and six members of
the Kurdish security forces were wounded in an explosion in the city
of Kirkuk, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, media reports said.
The Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency said that a vehicle bomb targeted
a Kurdish patrol in Kirkuk's Qods street. The blast killed a police
officer and wounded six members of the Kurdish forces.
A car bomb killed two Kurdish Peshmerga security force members and
wounded six, including two civilians, in the northern city of Kirkuk,
250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: Police forces on Thursday managed to defuse a bomb, planted on a
road in central Falluja, a police source said.
