Winks Blog

VP's Sister Murdered, 10 Killed, 16 Corpses Found

Good Morning,

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A sister of Iraq's new Sunni Arab vice president was killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad, a day after the politician called for the Sunni-dominated insurgency to be crushed by force.

Mayson Ahmed Bakir al-Hashimi, 60, whose brother, Tariq al-Hashimi, was appointed by parliament as vice president Saturday, was killed by gunmen in a sedan as she left her southwestern Baghdad home with her bodyguard, said police Capt. Jamel Hussein. The bodyguard also died.

It was the second recent killing in Tariq al-Hashimi's immediate family. On April 13, his brother, Mahmoud al-Hashimi, was shot while driving in a mostly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad.

Insurgents have targeted prominent men and women politicians in the past. On April 17, the brother of another leading Sunni politician, Saleh al-Mutlaq, was found dead after he was kidnapped.

The clashes northeast of Baghdad occurred when insurgents attacked four Iraqi police checkpoints in Baqouba, a Sunni-Shiite city 35 miles northeast of the capital, police and residents said. Five Iraqis were killed _ five policemen and two civilians _ said Dr. Ahmed Foad, director of a local morgue. U.S. forces have been gradually turning over security responsibilities to the Iraqis in Baqouba.

In a separate incident in Ramadi, one Iraqi soldier was killed during a fire fight with insurgents, army officers said.

A roadside bomb in Baghdad hit an Iraqi army patrol, killing a soldier, police said.

The bodies of 16 Iraqis who had been kidnapped and tortured were found Thursday in Baghdad and other cities, police said.

At least 141 Iraqis have been killed in insurgency- or sectarian-related violence since al-Maliki was tapped as prime minister Saturday and asked to form a new government


Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 8:48 AM