16 Bodies Found and Several More Killed Including Cleric Wife and Son
Good evening,
In a series of apparent sectarian killings, police found the bodies of 16 handcuffed and blindfolded young men around Baghdad. In the volatile western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliyah, 11 bodies were discovered in a truck, all shot in the head, police added. Five men's bodies were also found near a sewage plant in the eastern Rustamiyah district where sectarian death squads often leave corpses. It was not known if they were Sunni Arabs or Shiites.
Gunmen shot dead the wife and two sons of a Sunni Arab cleric north of the capital.
Two children died during a clash between U.S. troops and insurgents in the western town of Hit, U.S. Marine spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Pool said.
Two other Iraqis were shot and killed when they violated orders for residents to stay in their homes during raids by paramilitary troops backed by U.S. forces in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, police said.
Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and six wounded in a gunbattle in Buhriz, a tense Sunni Arab town 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.
Have a nice evening.
1 Woman killed 2 Injured
Good evening,
U.S. troops called in an airstrike against insurgents holed up at the Ramadi sports stadium, raising a column of spoke, residents said. Two civilians were injured when mortar shells exploded near the provincial office building, and one woman was killed by small arms fire, they added.
On another note. Tomorrow Mr. Bush will be giving his "State of the Union" address to our nation. It is unlikely that he will mention much if anything about the "State of Iraq". Or the "State of the American Psyche", or the "State of approval ratings" (Which are virtually at their lowest since he was handed the presidency). More news at 11:00.
Time To Feel
Good morning,
Injuries that are suffered by people are often diluted by reporting that comes out of Iraq. A death count leaves nothing to the imagination. A person is killed, and although we do not know nor do we rarely see the graphic details of the death, we do understand the extreme serious nature of the event. Afterall, a person has died.
Exact Iraqi citizen injury figures are not known, but a safe estimate would be 3 to 1 on the death count, which would make the Iraqi injury count about 90,000 people (Which would be a very conservative estimate). Innocent people have been hurt, disfigured, dismembered, scared, incapacitated, etc... but we rarely give the injured much thought. People in the US, don't really seem to care about the Iraqi civilian's that have been killed, why would people here really give much thought about those injured?
Today, a much beloved ABC news anchor, Bob Woodruff,and his camera man Doug Vogt, were seriously injured by schrapnel while they were embedded on a mission with Iraqi and American Troops. Their goal was to show, from an Iraqi perspective the dangerous conditions in which they perform their daily duties. What better way to get their message across to the American public than to themselves been seriously injured. While their story might have educated many here as to the dangers that Iraqi troops are faced with, the true danger is somehow brought much closer to home and into the hearts of the American people because Mr. Woodruff himself was injured. His injury, in particular, since most people have gotten to know him via television, has elicited reaction and caused people here to **feel**.
I wish both these men a speedy recovery. To the extent that they made the decision to put themselves in harms way to report this extremely important situation, but they themselves ended up
being the story, I give them my gratitude. I am not grateful that they were hurt, do not get me wrong, I am grateful that because of them, American public's emotions were stirred. It is time to get stirred. It is time to get stirred for all those 90,000 people who live suffering with their injuries. It is time to get stirred for each and every citizen in Iraq who have not yet been physically injured, but have been emotionally terrified and left under a shroud of fear every day.
Have a nice day.
3 Killed 9 Injured in Church Bombings
Good morning,
Three civilians were killed and one wounded in an attack on the Church of the Virgin in Kirkuk at 4:30 p.m., Col. Birhan Taha said. That explosion came 15 minutes after another car bomb exploded outside an Orthodox church, wounding six civilians.
Both bombs were detonated by remote control, Taha told The Associated Press.
In Baghdad, a car bomb detonated at 4:10 p.m. outside St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church in the eastern Baghdad suburb of Sina'a, wounding two people, Maj. Qusai Ibrahim said.
About 20 minutes later, another vehicle exploded outside an Anglican church in eastern Baghdad's Nidhal area, causing no casualties, Lt. Ali Mitaab said.
9 Killed, Plus 1 Bullet Riddled Body Found
Good morning,
Multiple attacks and bombings occured today killing at least nine:
* Violence raged in Baghdad's tense southwestern suburbs as hundreds of police raided homes hunting for insurgents and clashed with more than 30 armed men for several hours. Fierce fighting between police and insurgents in southwestern Baghdad areas such as Jihad and Saydiyah began early Friday. Policemen blaring their theme song "Where is the terrorist today?" from car speakers raided homes in several suburbs, arresting about 60 people. An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies of at least three people, all apparently civilians, who were shot by insurgents, witnesses said. Witnesses said insurgents killed the men, apparently civilians, after they were seized and tried to flee.
* A market bombing killed one woman and wounded three others, police said. Witnesses claimed a man stepped out of a police vehicle and planted the bomb.
* Another Iraqi woman was shot dead in western Baghdad's Baiyaa district by policemen firing into the air while trying to clear blocked traffic, police Lt. Aqil Fadil said.
* A roadside bomb in Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad, missed a passing U.S. military patrol but killed two Iraqi civilians and wounded two others, Iraqi Army Capt. Ibrahim Abdullah said.
* In Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Dora, two gunmen entered a barber shop and killed a man waiting for a haircut, police said. Less than 30 minutes later in the same area, men firing from two speeding cars killed a driver for the Higher Education Ministry. It was unclear if both events were linked.
* Police also found a man's bullet-riddled body slumped in a car in western Baghdad, said Dr. Muhannad Jawad of the Yarmouk hospital. Identity cards found among Hesham Ahmed Mahmoud's belongings indicated that he was an interpreter for the U.S. military.
8 Iraqis Killed and 4 Bodies Found
Good morning,
Insurgents have been pretty busy today, targeting more innocent victims.
In Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen driving a red Opel assassinated a senior official of Iraq's anti-corruption commission and the deputy director of a state-run food stuff company in separate attacks Thursday, police Capt. Farhad Talabani said.
Anti-corruption official Othman Majeed Rasheed, a 51-year-old Turkoman, was walking from his home to his nearby office when he was killed by a hail of gunfire, Talabani said.
Shortly after, the same group of gunmen shot dead Jomaa Rasheed, a Kurd who is the deputy director of the state-run company for food stuffs, in the same area, Talabani said. The two victims were unrelated.
Police believe the men were killed by the same masked gunmen who launched similar attacks on Jan. 17, targeting another Kirkuk office of the anti-corruption watchdog, known as the Integrity Commission, and offices for the Kurdistan Peoples Party, killing two people and wounding three.
Shiite cleric Fayez Mahmoud al-Moussaoui was killed after being caught in the crossfire between Iraqi soldiers and gunmen clashing in western Baghdad's Baiyaa district, police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said.
Zaid Attah, a retired Trade Ministry employee, was shot dead by gunmen who broke into his home in western Baghdad's Amariyah neighborhood, police Capt. Qassim Hussein said.
Gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers kidnapped Hadi al-Dahlaki, owner of a food company, and killed his son Wednesday during a raid on their factory in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Diyala police said. The al-Dahlaki family is one of Baqouba's wealthiest, and several of the hostage's sons have been kidnapped and released previously after the paying of ransoms.
Police found four bound and blindfolded bodies riddled with bullet holes Thursday in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, said Capt. Rasheed al-Samaraei.
North of Baghdad, three Iraqi soldiers were killed and four wounded by a roadside bomb Wednesday afternoon, police Lt. Amir al-Ahbabi said.
The attack happened in the Ishaki area on the Baghdad-Mosul highway, about 55 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
Have a nice day.
3 Iraqis Killed
Good morning
A huge blast was heard in Baghdad today. A martyr bomber targeted a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, which is close to the checkpoint into the Green Zone known as the "Assassins' Gate," said the top Baghdad police officer, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Razaq al-Samarie.
Two civilians and a policeman were killed and six Iraqis were wounded, including five policemen, al-Samarie said.
Some US military were also killed when
A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier Monday during a patrol in southwestern Baghdad, the military said in a statement. The soldier was attached to the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.
Two U.S. airmen were killed and a third was wounded in an attack on a convoy Sunday near Taji, where a U.S. air base is located 12 miles north of Baghdad, the military said.
23 Bullet Riddled Bodies Found
Good evening,
Today (Sunday) police found the bullet-riddled bodies of nearly two dozen men abducted last week north of Baghdad after being rejected entry into a police academy, officials said. The bodies of the 23 men were found partially buried near Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, said Interior Ministry police Lt. Thair Mahmoud. They had been abducted Wednesday while traveling from Baghdad to their homes in Samarra after failing to be accepted at a police recruit center.
Have a nice evening.
13 Killed
Good Morning,
Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at the home of an Iraqi police officer Sunday, killing his four young children and his brother and wounding his wife. Bombings and shootings around the country killed at least eight other people, officials said.
At least 13 were killed all together.
Have a nice day.
12 Iraqis Killed
Good Morning,
At least 12 Iraqis were killed in a spate of bombings and shootings across the country. Three policemen died in a car bombing in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, and Britain announced that a security contractor was killed in a roadside bombing.
Five bodyguards of President Jalal Talabani also were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in northern Iraq, police said Saturday. Talabani was not with them at the time.
Although the deadline is now passed for Kidnapped victim Carrol, no word has yet been heard regarding her status.
There are at least 50 known people in Iraq being held against their will, and there is no way to know what the real figure is.
Have a nice day.
13+ Iraqis Killed, 47 Injured in Simultaneous Bomb Blasts
Good morning,
Today we wake up to the news that there were two bomb blasts in Baghdad. One was in a cafe, and the other in a nearby restaurant. One blast was by either a martyr bomber with a belt or a rigged cigarette cart with artillary shells inside. The other blast was by a bomb which had been planted at a restaurant. A total of no less than 13 up to 25 Iraqis were killed and 47 injured. the final count is not yet known, as body parts have to be assembled and miscounting because the blasts were so close. I will report if and or when the final figures come in.
Meanwhile, back in the US, mother of hostage Jill Carrol made a plea on CNN to the abductors of her daughter to release her. We also learn that the US has arranged to free 6 of 8 Iraqi Women Detainees.
In today's report is is claimed that An Iraqi government commission reviewing detainee cases recommended to U.S. authorities on Monday that six of them be released.
Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim Ali said the six women would be released next week but "not part of any swap with any kidnappers."
Finally, it is felt that the results, more than a month after the vote took place (Dec. 15), could be released very soon, possibly tomorrow. Iraqi's and Americans are going increase security before this announcement as they expect that there could be a violent reaction. Clue phone, over 600 Iraqis have been killed since the vote. I guess they want just one "safe" day... the date of the announcement, much as they wanted one safe day, the day of the vote. Makes for better press I suppose.
Have a nice day.
41 Killed
Good evening,
Today was a particularly gruesome day in Iraq. Today (Wednesday).
Police said militants used this week's downing of a U.S. helicopter to carve out a killing field north of Baghdad, slaying more than 40 people on remote roads that Iraqis were forced to use after American troops cordoned off the crash zone.
Thirty people were dragged from their cars Wednesday at crude checkpoints erected on unpaved roads and shot dead execution-style in farming areas in Nibaei, a town near Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, said police Lt. Qahtan al-Hashmawi.
The increased violence came as authorities prepare to announce the results this week of the Dec. 15 election. U.S. and Iraqi officials expect more attacks as religious and ethnic groups jockey for power in the new government.
In the boldest attack, gunmen opened fire on a convoy of the mobile telephone company Iraqna, killing six security guards and three drivers in the Nafaq al-Shurta district of western Baghdad.
Naguib Sawiris, chairman of the Egyptian communications firm that controls Iraqna, said the attackers seized the two Kenyans.
The two American civilians were killed in a roadside bombing in the southern city of Basra. They worked for the Texas-based security company DynCorp and were training Iraqi police. A third American was seriously wounded in the attack, the U.S. Embassy said.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene said two four-wheel-drive vehicles were targeted. The area was surrounded by heavily armed British forces, whose main base in Iraq is in Basra.
The killings occurred as a joint American-Iraqi investigation was under way to find Carroll, the 28-year-old American journalist who was abducted Jan. 7 in Baghdad.
Have a nice evening.
3 Iraqis Slain, 4 Bullet Riddled Bodies Found
Good afternoon,
Gunmen firing from cars terrorized the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Baiyaa on Tuesday, slaying a police lieutenant driving to work before three more men _ including an auto mechanic and his son _ were gunned down in the same area.
Earlier in the day, the bullet-riddled bodies of an army battalion commander and his brother were also found in al-Baiyaa. Col. Hussein Shiaa and his brother were abducted Sunday after leaving their base in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad.
Police found four bound and blindfolded bodies each shot in the back of the head and dumped in a Baghdad sewer, police said. It was unclear exactly when the four were killed.
Have a nice day.
US Hostage Update
Good afternoon.
While it is the intention of this blog to cover/report on Iraqi deaths I do occassionally report on other things. In this case, todayAl Jazeera TV broadcasted an aproximate 20 second video tape of American free-lance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, Jill Carrol. The tape was supplied from an un-named group., although the tag on her photo as shown by Al Jazerra TV is translated "The Revenge Brigade". They said that unless US and Iraqi's release all women prisioners, they will kill Ms. Carrol in the next 72 hours. Of course, her family has made a plea that the abductors spare her life.
I believe if there is one thing that is really important going on in Iraq, it is the reporting that comes out of it. It is amazing to me that anyone would go there and put their lives on the line in the quest of reporting the news. Reporters certainly know what they are stepping into when they make the decision to go into Iraq. Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped more than 240 foreigners and killed at least 39 of them. So, in advance of Ms. Carrols possible killing, I would like to thank her for all she did to report the news to the US market. Although I think she was crazy for stepping into an extremely risky situation, I truly appreciate her dedication and committment to telling the stories of the Iraqi people. Thank you Ms. Carrols.
To the abductors of this non-combatant, innocent victim, the blood of her death (as will the blood of all the innocents) will shower your universe if you do kill her, and you will never be made whole, in this life or any other that you believe you will have.
Have a nice day.
498 Iraqis Killed Since 12/15/05, 29 Killed today
Good morning,
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two martyr bombers wearing police uniforms and holding security passes tried to attack National Police Day celebrations Monday, with police shooting one to death and the other exploding his vest, killing 29 people, authorities said. The U.S. ambassador and Iraq's interior and defense ministers were present but far from the attacks.
Since Dec. 15, at least 498 Iraqis have been killed, including 355 civilians and 143 security forces, according to an Associated Press count. At least 54 U.S. troops have died in the same period. With the latest military deaths, at least 2,207 U.S. service members have died since the war started in 2003, an AP count shows.
5 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded
Good morning,
In violence Sunday, five people were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, including a policeman killed by a suicide car bomber that targeted an Interior Ministry patrol. Seven others were wounded.
A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, killing all 12 Americans believed to be aboard, while five U.S. Marines were slain in separate weekend attacks, the military said Sunday.
Have a nice day.
1 Killed in Martyr Car Bomb Attack
Good morning,
In new violence Friday, a suicide car bomber struck a police patrol in Baghdad, killing one officer, Col. Noori Ashur said.
The number of US Soldiers killed yesterday has been updated, bringing to 11 the number of U.S. troops slain on Thursday.
Have a nice day.
130 People Killed In Iraq, 180 Injured
Good afternoon,
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide bombers targeted Shiite pilgrims in the south and police recruits in central Iraq, and a roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers, bringing Thursday's death toll to at least 130 people in a series of attacks as politicians tried to form a coalition government.
A martyr blast near the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, killed 63 people and wounded 120, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Meshawi said.
In the attack's aftermath, a woman and an infant girl in a bright red jumpsuit lay in a pool of blood, their faces covered by a sheet. Television images showed men ferrying the wounded in pushcarts.
The bomber appeared to have blown himself up about 30 yards from the shrine in a busy pedestrian area surrounded by shops.
In Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of Baghdad, a U.S. spokesman said dozens were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a line of about 1,000 police recruits. Marine Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool initially put the death toll at about 30, but Mohammed al-Ani, a doctor at Ramadi General Hospital, later said 56 people were killed and 60 injured.
53 People Killed In Iraq, Mr. Bush Sends Condolences to Families of Dead Miners
Good morning,
Thirty two people attending the funeral for the nephew of a Shiite politician were killed by a martyr bomber. More than 100 mourners were standing in a cemetery in Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, for the burial of a nephew of Ahmed al-Bakka when the bomber struck, the Diyala provincial police said. The cemetery was strewn with body parts and the tombstones were stained with blood. At least 32 people were killed and 42 wounded, said Dr. Firas al-Nida of the Muqdadiyah hospital. Ahmed al-Bakka was himself an assissination target last Tuesday when his nephew was killed. I do not know if he was present at the funeral. Al-Bakka is the head of the local Dawa party, led by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and a main partner in the country's largest Shiite political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance.
In other violence today, (Wednesday), a car bomb exploded near an outdoor market in Baghdad's southern Dora district, killing seven people and wounding 15, police said.
The bomb, which damaged several shops and nearby vehicles, targeted a police patrol near the market at the time, said police Capt. Firras Giti.
In addition, Insurgents attacked a convoy of 60 tanker trucks with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, destroying three of the tankers and damaging 15 others, said police Lt. Abdul Zahra Qassim. Three Iraqi army vehicles, which had been guarding the convoy, were also destroyed in the attack about 25 miles north of Baghdad, police said.
Tanker truck drivers had stopped transporting gasoline from Iraq's largest refinery in Beiji on Dec. 18 because of security concerns. The drivers began carrying fuel again this week after being promised increased security.
As a side note, today 12 miners were discovered dead in West Virginia more than 40 hours after a mine explosion. Mr. Bush did take time to recgonize the dead at a Pentagon news conference this morning. He did not acknowledge any of the deaths on the most bloody day in Iraq since December 15th.
Have a nice day.
13 Car Bombs Across Iraq Wound 20 People
Happy New Year,
Amazingly no one was killed in the 13 car bombs that went off across Iraq today. However, 20 people were wounded in the attacks. As usual, there is no differentiation in the reporting of glancing flesh wounds, to very serious wounds, so it is not yet known if someone will die as a result of her/his wounds.
Even without a mere scratch to the skin, let me restate, that virtually every person in Iraq has indeed been wounded, at least emotionally/mentally. It was the seeds of fear that was planted into the souls of every person on the bridge on August 31, 2005 that killed 769 people and wounded over 300 when the mere rumor of a terrorist threat caused absolute chaos and people trampled each other and jumped to their deaths off the bridge. Please visit my Blog entry for that day for more details.
Have a nice day.
