Winks Blog

Sunday 39 Killed or Found Dead Across Iraq Saturday 38 Killed

Good morning,

BAGHDAD - A booby-trapped bicycle exploded near a cafe serving tea and food during Ramadan fasting hours Sunday, killing at least five people in a religiously mixed area in northern Iraq, police said.

Dozens of fighters linked to the Sunni-dominated al-Qaida in Iraq streamed into Shiite villages north of Baghdad, torching homes and killing at least 15 residents, police and army officials said.

In separate violence, Iraqi police said security contractors opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least nine civilians. The U.S. Embassy said contractors working for the State Department were involved in an incident in Baghdad but provided no further details, saying an investigation was still under way.

"We saw a convoy of SUVs passing in the street nearby. One minute later, we heard the sound of bomb explosion followed by gunfire that lasted for 20 minutes between gunmen and the convoy people who were foreigners and dressed in civilian clothes. Everybody in the street started to flee immediately," said Hussein Abdul-Abbas, who owns a cell phone store nearby.

The police officer who reported the shootings in Mansour spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

American soldiers arrived afterward and were not involved, military spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl said.

Many contractors have been accused of indiscriminately firing at American and Iraqi troops, and of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens who got too close to their heavily armed convoys, but not one has faced charges or prosecution.

The wartime numbers of private guards are unprecedented _ as are their duties, many of which have traditionally been done by soldiers. They protect U.S. military operations and have guarded high-ranking officials including Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Baghdad. They also protect journalists, visiting foreign officials and thousands of construction projects.

In the raids on the villages of Jichan and Ghizlayat, the fighters arrived from several different directions and residents fought back until Iraqi security forces arrived and chased the attackers, who fled to nearby farms.

The clashes about 60 miles north of Baghdad lasted about two hours, the officials and witnesses said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

In all, at least 39 people were killed or found dead nationwide. The bloodshed came the day after al-Qaida in Iraq announced a new offensive in the Islamic holy month and was a blow to government hopes that a peaceful Ramadan would demonstrate the success of the seven-month operation in the capital.

Separately, a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq fighter believed responsible for the assassination of a U.S.-allied Sunni sheik was arrested north of the capital, the military said Sunday.

In the late-morning blast in Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, witnesses said a boy left the bicycle bomb near the cafe, which was located in a popular market and was one of the few open during daylight hours despite Ramadan. Tradition requires faithful to abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset during the monthlong observance.

Two of the slain victims were in the cafe, while three were in the market, police chief Capt. Abbas Mohammed said. He also said 19 people were wounded.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Saturday Summary of Iraqi Killings:

Saturday 15 September: 38 dead
Baghdad: car bomb kills 11 outside bakery, Amil; 11 bodies.
Baquba: 2 bodyguards killed in attack on police chief of intelligence; 2 sheikhs, members of Baquba Salvation Council, assassinated.
Falluja: hand grenade thrown at police patrol misses its target and kills shop owner.
Samarra: mortars kill 2 people, one of them a child.
Khalis: 2 bodies found inside car.
Karma: 3 bodies.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 9:30 AM