Winks Blog

9 Killed 8 Corpses Found

Good Morning,

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombs and drive-by shootings Sunday killed nine people in Iraq, and the bodies of seven Iraqi men who apparently were kidnapped and tortured were found in three areas of the capital.

The deadliest attack Sunday involved a roadside bomb that exploded on a highway south of Baghdad, killing three security contractors and wounding two. Police said the victims were all British. The British Embassy in Baghdad and the Foreign Office in London confirmed the attack but did not yet know the victims' nationalities, identities or employer.

The roadside bomb hit an SUV carrying the contractors at 9:30 a.m. about 30 miles south of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding two, an Iraqi policeman said, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his own security.

One of the most brutal killings Sunday occurred in the town Jurf al-Saghar, south of Baghdad. Residents discovered a corpse inside a private car and called police. When several officers arrived, explosives packed inside the vehicle were set off by remote control, killing one policeman and wounding two, said police Capt. Muthana Khalid.

The bullet-ridden bodies of seven Iraqi men also were found in three different areas of Baghdad. All had been tortured and killed in captivity, police said. Such sectarian violence by Sunni Arab and Shiite death squads has become common lately in Baghdad.

In other violence Sunday:

_Four drive-by shootings in Baghdad killed four civilians, including Talib Niama, an employee in the Trade Ministry.

_A roadside bomb hit a U.S. military convoy in central Tikrit, the hometown of deposed leader Saddam Hussein, said police Maj. Ahmed Awad said. He said the blast set a Humvee ablaze, causing U.S. casualties, but the U.S. command could not immediately confirm that.

_In Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, gunmen attacked three policemen traveling in a car carrying the salaries of police in Fallujah, killing one, wounding another, and kidnapping the third with the bag of money, police said.

_Two roadside bombs targeting separate Iraqi police patrols exploded within a half hour of each other in two areas of western Baghdad, wounding two policemen and a civilian driving nearby, police said.

_In Sadr City, a Shiite slum of Baghdad, a bomb exploded aboard a minibus near a gas station, wounding three Iraqi civilians, said police Lt. Thair Mahmoud. Many Iraqis pay small fees to travel around the capital in privately owned minibuses.

_A roadside bomb in Musayyib, 40 miles south of Baghdad, missed a police patrol but wounded a civilian, said police Capt. Muthana Khalid said.

_A roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy in Rawah, 175 miles northwest of Baghdad, witnesses said, but casualties were not immediately reported.

_A roadside bomb targeting an American convoy in Amiriyah, western Baghdad, wounded an Iraqi civilian, said police Capt. Jamel Hussein said.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 9:16 AM