Older News Stories

Saturday bombings; Justice Min. resigns

Deadly bombings continued throughout Iraq on Saturday. A parked car exploded near a hospital in Baghdad's main Shiite district apparently targeted at street vendors and pedestrians just outside the entrance to the Sadrayn hospital in Sadr City. Police said at least five people were killed and 15 wounded.

Another parked car bomb struck a gas station in the morning in the city of Hillah killing at least two people and wounding 22. In northern Iraq, a car exploded after the driver parked it near Iraqis looking for work in the center of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad. The driver and two workers were killed and 11 others wounded in the attack. A parked car bomb targeting a police patrol wounded six people in the northern city of Mosul.

More than 20 bodies were found overnight in several cities.

Iraqis claims, and U.S. military denies, that it was involved in airstrikes over Sadr City on Friday in which local officials said 20 suspected militants were killed and 14 others wounded, along with seven civilians.

Iraq's justice minister said Saturday that he had offered his resignation, citing unspecified differences with the government and his own political group. Justice Minister Hashim al-Shebli, a Sunni Arab member of the secular Iraqi List, said he had presented his resignation to the Cabinet on Thursday but was still waiting for its approval of the decision.

Al-Shebli has been involved in a dispute over the Cabinet's recent endorsement of a decision to relocate and compensate thousands of Arabs who moved to the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk during "Arabisation" campaign in 1980s. The Iraqi List, which is led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, holds 25 seats in the 275-seat parliament. posted 31 March 2007

Bloody week points to lousy strategy

Despite assurances that the situation is improving in Iraq, a bloody week in which more than 400 have already died by Friday morning should dispel the myth that current military strategy will lead to peace. As the occupation of Iraq continues, more Iraqis are taking part in the fighting and society is beginning to unravel with greater speed.

The Brookings Institution, which monitors violence in Iraq, said there had been a 30 percent increase in Diyala province north of Baghdad since the launch of the crackdown in February.

U.S. commanders concede they have had less success in curbing the bombings, despite the discovery of a number of car bomb factories and the killing of scores of suspected militants.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, on Friday accused Sunni groups for the violence, despite evidence that all parties in Iraq (including foreign military, contractors and clandestine forces) seem to have a hand in the worsening situation.

Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a scathing attack on the United States on Friday, following one of the country's bloodiest days, blaming Washington for Iraq's troubles and calling for a mass demonstration April 9 — the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

Policymakers and strategic analysts in the Arab world have little confidence that current US troop surge in Iraq will do much more than – at best – postpone a complete political-security breakdown in Iraq, which, they fear, could then spread across the Middle East. "If the Americans stay, we can expect the situation to remain bad," said one analyst from Baghdad when questioned about whether U.S. forces should remain or be pulled out.

In Kirkuk today, acar bomb exploded outside a home, injuring two girls and a woman.

Also on Friday, gunmen killed two policemen in a drive-by shooting and wounded another in a village near the city of Hilla. Gunmen shot dead a man in front of his shop in Diwaniya.

Police said they found 25 bodies in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday. More than a dozen bodies were found in Baghdad.

A roadside bomb killed one American soldier and wounded another in southern Baghdad on Thursday. posted 30 March 2007

130 die in today's blasts; New Ambassador

Five suicide bombers struck mosly Shiite marketplaces in Baghdad and a town north of the capital at nightfall Thursday, killing at least 130 persons - including many women and children - and wounding hundreds more. Nearby residents rushed the wounded to the hospital using anything available. Violence continued throughout the day.

At least three suicide car bombers launched almost simultaneous attacks in a mainly Shi'ite town, killing 53 people and wounding 103.

Gunmen opened fire on a crowd in Shabab district in southern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding three. A car bomb killed three people and wounded 16 in Jamiaa in western Baghdad. A car bomb killed four policemen and one civilian and wounded nine more police in Jihad in southwest Baghdad. roadside bomb in Bayaa district in southern Baghdad killed three people and wounded 20 others. The bodies of 25 people were found overnight in Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a car bomb killed four people and wounded 20 in a parking lot in Mahmudiya. Two mortars also landed in that city, killing two and wounding seven.

A career diplomat with broad experience in the Middle East was sworn in Thursday as U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Ryan Crocker, was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Iraq on Thursday in the Green Zone "Bling Bling" embassy (formerly Saddam's Republican Palace). Crocker, who has most recently served as ambassdaor to Pakistan, succeeds Zalmay Kalilzad, who moved to head the U.S. mission at the United Nations. Crocker was director of governance for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq for six months in 2003. He has also been ambassador to Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon and in other positions in Egypt, Qatar, Iran and Afghanistan. posted 29 March 2007

Deaths, injuries in the hundreds; U.S. Bases attacked

Gunmen massacred 45 men in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar in an apparent Shiite reprisal for deadly bombings that killed 75 people there, officials said on Wednesday. "We received 45 bodies of handcuffed and blindfolded men from al-Wahada neighbourhood overnight. They were killed on Tuesday just after the bomb," a doctor at Tal Afar hospital said on condition of anonymity.

More than 150 Iraqis were killed and 230 injured in attacks on Tuesday. Deaths and injuries are once again reaching into several hundreds per week, despite the recent arrests of thousands of Iraqis, belying U.S. military and government claims of reduced violence through new strategies.

Two people were killed and 11 others wounded in separate car bomb and mortar attacks in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday. "A booby-trapped car parking near an intersection in Baghdad's southern district of Baiyaa, detonated, killing two people and wounding ten others."

Meanwhile, several mortar rounds landed on a residential area in the al-Bunoug neighborhood, northeast of Baghdad, wounding a woman. Another mortar attack struck the Raghba Khatoon neighborhood, in northern part of the capital, injuring a civilian.

In other news, two suicide car bombs, including a truck carrying Chlorine toxic gas, struck a U.S. base in Fallujah on Wednesday, killing eight Iraqi policemen and wounding more than 15 others, including U.S. personnel.

A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded two others when it struck a police patrol in the northern city of Kirkuk. Police found the bodies of five people, including one that was decapitated, floating in the Tigris river south of Baghdad in Suwayra, police said. The bodies had signs of torture. A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol wounded a senior police officer in Mosul.

Two Americans, a contractor and a soldier, were killed in a rocket attack on the heavy guarded Green Zone on Tuesday, according to statements from the U.S. Embassy and the military. Five other people were wounded, one contractor who was seriously hurt and three with slight wounds. A second soldier also was wounded in the attack, but the military did not give a condition.

Insurgents killed a U.S. Marine on Tuesday in Anbar Province, the U.S. military said. A British soldier was shot and wounded at police headquarters in the southern city of Basra. posted 28 March 2007

Tal Afar bombs kill scores; Nuns murdered

Two car bombs in Tal Afar on Tuesday killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 100 others. The explosions targeted markets in the northern and central parts of the city. Last year, President Bush cited Tal Afar as an example of Iraq's improving security, despite the fact that thousands of residents had fled and become refugees in other parts of the country.

The new leader of U.S. Central Command said today that Iraq isn't engulfed in a civil war, and there are "signs of hope outside strife-torn Baghdad", said Adm. William J. Fallon, whose command is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and covers the Middle East, central Asia and eastern Africa. (note to General: Get a map...Tal Afar, Kirkuk, Fallujah, Mosul, Basra and Ramadi are outside of Baghdad)

Two school boys were seriously injured and rushed to the hospital in Kirkuk after they were injured when a roadside bomb exploded outside their school.

A suicide car bomb exploded outside a restaurant frequented by Iraqi police on a main road north of Ramadi, killing 17 people and wounding dozens more on Tuesday as the day started off bloody throughout Iraq.

Two elderly sisters, both Chaldean Catholic nuns, were stabbed to death in their home in Kirkuk, city police reported Tuesday, saying the motive for the attack was not known.

Margaret Naoum, 79, was stabbed seven times as she stood in the garden just outside the sisters’ home. The attackers then went inside where they found Fawzeiyah Naoum, 85, lying on the sofa, recovering from eye surgery last week. She was stabbed three times.

In Baghdad, a mortar attack in Abu Dasheer, a Shiite enclave in the Sunni-dominated Dora neighborhood, killed at least 4, including two children, a woman and a man. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded two others in southeastern Baghdad. Gunmen killed a police lieutenant working in the Serious Crimes Unit in Zayouna district of eastern Baghdad.

Elsewhere, two suicide bombers exploded their cars near the home of a tribal leader in Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad, killing the man's son and three other people. Gunmen killed three people in the town of Ishaqi, 60 miles north of Baghdad, on Monday. Gunmen killed two employees of the social welfare office in Mosul in a drive-by shooting. Also in Mosul, aroadside bomb wounded two guards of the local head of the municipal council.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on legislation today that would fund the war and occupation of Iraq for another year, with some redeployment to begin within 90 days of passage

The U.S. military said Tuesday a U.S. Marine died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province. A British soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb hit his patrol in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday and attacks have intensified in recent weeks. posted 27 March 2007

Baghdad and suburbs violent; 5 dead soldiers

In Baghdad today, a suicide car bomb killed two Iraqis and wounded five more in Rusafa, near the Shorja market. A mortar round landed on a residential district in Dora district, killing one man and wounding three others. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded three others in the Zaafaraniya district. Seventeen bodies were found in Baghdad on Sunday.

Brigadier Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, said Iraqi forces captured a senior al Qaeda leader and two of his aides in the Abu Ghraib area northwest of Baghdad. He also said security forces found a cache of 430 anti-tank mines in Jamila in east Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a curfew was imposed in the town of Iskandariya after clashes erupted between gunmen and security forces. Mortars also landed in a central residential district, killing two and wounding four. In Mosul, gunmen killed a police major and at least four others were killed in separate incidents.

Gunmen killed an Iraqi contractor working for the U.S. forces in a drive-by shooting on Sunday in a town near the city of Kut.

Roadside bombs killed five U.S. soldiers in Iraq on Sunday. One U.S. soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded during a route-clearance operation in a northwestern part of the city, the military said. Four others were killed and two injured in a similar attack in neighboring Diyala province. posted 26 March 2007

More fighting on Sunday; Mosques hit

Fighting continued on Sunday as Iraqi residents continued to recover from the violence on Saturday.

U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a town south of Baghdad on Sunday shortly after a Sunni mosque was bombed in apparent revenge for the destruction of a Shi'ite mosque there a day earlier. Gunmen stormed the Sunni mosque in Haswa, a religiously mixed town about 50 35 miles south of the Iraqi capital, on Sunday morning and holed its minaret with a blast. Part of the building was set on fire, a police official said.

The police chief in the nearby town of Hilla, Major General Qais al-Maamuri, said two people were wounded. A second Sunni mosque was attacked but damage was reported to be minor.

This followed a suicide truck bomb that exploded outside a Shi'ite mosque in Haswa on Saturday, killing at least 14 and wounding 21. Only the mosque's minaret was left standing.

As Shi'ite residents combed through the rubble of the building on Sunday, a column of armoured U.S. and Iraqi Humvee vehicles nearby came under machinegun fire. U.S. troops could be seen running into buildings nearby. The area was rocked by an explosion that sent a large cloud of dust into the air. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.

In Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol, killed an Iraqi soldier near Yarmouk hospital. A sniper shot dead a man in the al-Sinak area.

Police said they found the bodies of five people, including a policeman, in different districts of Mosul. Gunmen killed Ali Amin, director of a gas factory, near his house in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, police said.

A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a captain and wounded three other policemen in Tikrit.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers detained 16 insurgents and found two weapons caches on Saturday during search operations in the western Ghazaliya district of Baghdad. Iraqi soldiers killed an insurgent, detained 71 others, and discovered two car bombs and 10 weapons caches on Saturday in the town of Latifiya. posted 25 March 2007

74+ dead on Saturday; Refugee protest

In all, at least 76 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Saturday as the occupation of Iraq continues in its fifth year.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives attacked a police station in the volatile southern Dora district of Baghdad, killing at least 20 people including 14 policemen and three detainees. Another 26 people were wounded, mostly police.

Elsewhere in Iraq, three car bombers launched almost simultaneous attacks against a police station and checkpoints in western Iraq, near the Syrian border. Intelligence officer Hassan Abed Mottar said 10 people were killed, including seven policemen. A suicide truck bomber exploded near a Shi'ite mosque in the town of Haswa about 40 miles south of Baghdad, police said. Hilla hospital said at least nine people were killed and 43 wounded. A suicide bomber in a market in the town of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq killed 10 people and wounded 3.

Iraqi and U.S. forces clashed with gunmen in Falluja and a medical source said four people were killed. In the Rutba area near the Jordanian border, the U.S. military said it killed three suspected insurgents in an air strike on their car. Many dead bodies were found in several cities, including Baghdad.

Refugees in Kerbala protested a government decision to make them vacate office buildings that they have occupied since moving to the city. Several of these buildings were previously occupied by U.S. forces.

One U.S. soldier was killed in combat in Fallujah and another soldier killed in Baghdad on Friday, according to the military today

Protests against the war continued throughout the U.S. this weekend. posted 24 March 2007

Bomb targets Deputy PM; British intercepted by Iran

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie survived when a suicide bomber blew himself up at Friday prayers which Zobaie was attending in Baghdad, his spokesman said. Officials said at least six of Zobaie's entourage were killed.

A Friday curfew failed to stop bombings and killings in Baghdad today.

Five people were killed and 20 wounded when a car bomb exploded in the al-Habibiya area Sadr City. A U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb that hit his patrol in western Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Elsewhere, A suicide car bomb exploded near a police checkpoint in Najaf, wounding three policemen. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman and wounded two in Yusufiya.

Police said the bodies of four people, including two teenagers, were found on Thursday in Mosul. Police said they found the bullet-riddled bodies of a woman and her teenage daughter and the bodies of two policemen in Diwaniya. Other bodies were found in Tikrit and several areas of Baghdad.

The Iranian military detained 15 British navy personnel at gunpoint off the coast of Iraq today. The incident happened after a boarding party from the HMS Cornwall had carried out a search of a cargo ship in the Persian Gulf. An Iranian naval patrol intercepted the British

Congress continues to debate supplemental funding bills for Iraq and may vote today. posted 23 March 2007

More protests and arrests; 3 GIs dead

Once again, Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad calling for an end to the U.S. occupation. Hundreds of students marched in the Hurriyah area of Baghdad on Thursday.

The Iraqi army killed 16 insurgents and arrested 198 others during the last 48 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defense Ministry said. U.S.-Iraqi joint forces detained 31 people on Wednesday for questioning during search operations in western Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

Clashes erupted when members of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army attacked the headquarters of the rival Shi'ite Fadhila party in the southern city of Basra. Seven people were wounded, a hospital source said. A curfew was imposed in the city afterwards. British forces said they used "minimum force" to quell a disturbance at a British-run prison in Basra, after an Iraqi official said five inmates were wounded by plastic bullets.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed on Wednesday. Two died during combat in Fallujah and another when his patrol came under small arms fire in western Baghdad.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived Baghdad on Thursday on an unannounced visit to Iraq. posted 22 March 2007

Nightime raid questions; More than 120 killed in past 24 hours

The U.S. military, Iraqi government officials and witnesses here offered conflicting accounts Tuesday of whether several people killed during a Baghdad raid Monday night were armed insurgents or civilians gathered at a mosque. According to a U.S. military statement, Iraqi soldiers assisting in a search for insurgents entered the Imam al-Abass mosque in Hurriyah, a formerly mixed Baghdad neighborhood.

After the search, the statement said, a separate group of about 20 armed men attacked Iraqi and U.S. soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades and guns. The soldiers returned fire, killing three insurgents; three other armed men were detained, the military said.

But Col. Mahmoud Abdul Hussein of Iraq's Interior Ministry said six civilians were killed and seven wounded when U.S. helicopters fired on homes after coming under attack from armed men. Another ministry spokesman, Sami Jabarah, said late Tuesday that the casualties had risen to eight killed and 11 wounded. Two witnesses described indiscriminate shooting, but no helicopter fire, by U.S. forces that resulted in the deaths of at least six civilians, including some armed guards.

Ali Hussein Ali, 36, who said he was leaving the mosque when the troops arrived, said U.S. soldiers began spraying bullets around the area and hitting people at random. He ran for cover in a house, he said, and heard gunfire continue for several hours.

While the controversy raged, violence continued to grow with more than 120 killed and scores more wounded during the past twenty-four hours.

Iraqi security forces detonated a truck loaded with explosives in northern Baghdad on Tuesday. The controlled explosion wounded 12 people, including policemen and soldiers. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded two policemen in eastern Baghdad. Also in Baghdad, the bodies of 32 people were found shot dead on Tuesday in different districts.

A mortar explosion killed three people and wounded 10 in Madaen, 25 miles south of Baghdad. Police said that they found the bodies of seven people shot dead on Tuesday in different districts of the northern city of Mosul and bodies were found in other cities as well. A policeman was killed and eight wounded, including four civilians, when clashes erupted between police and gunmen on Tuesday in several districts of Diwaniya.

Clashes erupted between Iraqi police and U.S. Marines and groups of al-Qaeda fighters on Tuesday near the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad. It ended with the killing of eight of the gunmen, the U.S. military said. A senior Iraqi provincial official on Tuesday put the death toll at 39, including eight policemen.

U.S. forces reported killing five insurgents, and detaing three others and destroyed a bomb-making factory in an operation near Taji, 9 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. posted 21 March 2007

Scores dead in Baghdad; Convoy hit

Bombs continued to rock the Iraq capital today as deaths begin to mount once again.

A parked car bomb exploded near a main bus station in central Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 18.

In a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, a suicide car bomber drove his vehicle into an Iraq army checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding another. Three people were killed and seven others hurt when a car bomb exploded in a tunnel in downtown Baghdad. A mortar round landed on a residential district and wounded a man in Zaafaraniya district, south of Baghdad. Police said they found bodies of 30 people shot on Monday in different districts of Baghdad.

A U.S. military convoy was hit by a road side bomb. Two soldiers were killed and casualties were evacuated by helicopter.

Elsewhere in Iraq, gunmen killed a man and wounded another in the town of al-Zab. More than 100 suspected insurgents were rounded up in Mosul and Baghdad.

British military handed over a base they were occupying in the southern city of Basra to the Iraqi army on Tuesday, Hakim al-Mayahi, a member of the city council said.

Iraq's former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan was executed today in Baghdad. posted 20 March 2007

5th year begins; Ad-hoc clinic in Sadr City

A bomb left in a bag near a mosque in central Baghdad killed three people and wounded 10 on Monday as the escalation of the war continued as the occupation and war of Iraq entered its fifth year and President Bush promised escalation.

Three car bombs and two roadside devices killed 18 people and wounded 37 in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk today. The blasts happened in different parts of the city but exploded within a few minutes. One car bomb targeted the local offices of the secular political party of former prime minister Iyad Allawi, another one targeted a government building and the third exploded in a commercial street.

One man was killed and two wounded on Sunday when clashes erupted between U.S. forces and gunmen in the city of Mosul.

Two police stations were badly damaged when suspected militants planted bombs in and around them in the town of Dhuluiya, 50 miles north of Baghdad. Militants have threatened to demolish all government offices in Sunni areas, a police source said.

Also in Iraq: Gunmen kidnapped Khalaf al-Dalfi, the mayor of Wasit town, near the city of Kut. Gunmen killed Abdul-Qadir Khudhair, the head of the local passport office on Sunday in the city of Diwaniya.

Several dozen Iraqis have been served by an ad-hoc clinic set up by the U.S. Army in the Sadr City district of Bhagdad. The ad-hoc clinic was part of a growing military outreach under the month-old Baghdad security plan. In most cases, such clinics close within hours, to avoid attacks. In Sadr City, medical services historically were provided by Shiite militias such as the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s powerful Medhi Army. The military hopes providing treatment themselves will turn support in U.S. favor.

In 2004 U.S. commanders in charge of Sadr City promised to build up to 9 hospitals for this area of almost 2 million people. None were built as the commanders cycled out. posted 19 March 2007

Fighting intense; 7 US troops dead

A car bomb exploded in a market in the mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood of Shaab in northern Baghdad on Sunday, killing six people and wounding 30

Also in Baghdad, aroadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded four people, including two civilians, near al-Mustansiriya Square. Gunmen opened fire at people in a drive-by shooting, killing a man and wounding two others near al-Rusafi Square in central Baghdad. A total of 19 bodies were found shot dead on Saturday in different districts of Baghdad, police said.

Elsewhere in Iraq: A roadside bomb exploded near a hospital and wounded a man in the city of Hilla. A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol wounded three policemen in the northern city of Kirkuk. Iraqi police found the decapitated bodies of nine policemen with their hands bound and bearing signs of torture in a town near the city of Ramadi. Bodies were also found in Mosula and Diwaniya.

Mortar rounds landed in the town of Madaen, 25 miles south of Baghdad, on Saturday, killing two people and wounding 15 others.

The U.S. military on Sunday announced the deaths of seven more troops in Iraq, including four killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling western Baghdad - the latest American casualties in a monthlong security crackdown in the capital.

Protests against the war were staged in hundreds of cities around the world on Saturday. posted 18 March 2007

Chlorine attack injures 356; Mortars, bombings elsewhere

At least eight people were killed and 356 needed hospital treatment after insurgents detonated three trucks filled with toxic chlorine gas.

Friday's gas attack was the seventh this year in which insurgents have used chemical gas bombs on civilians and security forces, in what appears to be a new terror tactic.

In Baghdad, a Sunni mosque in the southern neighbourhood of al-Dora was destroyed by explosives. Three Iraqis were killed when a mortar hit their house in southern Baghdad on Friday. Police found the bodies of nine people across Baghdad on Friday.

In Hilla on Saturday, a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded five when it exploded in a market. A roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded another when it exploded near their patrol in the northern city of Mosul. Bodies were found in Suwayra, Mosul and Taji.

On Friday, asuicide bomber driving a tanker truck detonated his explosives in a line of cars waiting to enter Fallujah, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, police said Saturday. The blast occurred on the edge of the village of Amiriyat.

In Washington, thousands of Christians vigiled against the war and protested outside the White House on Friday. A major march on the Pentagon is planned for Saturday, despite the cold weather. posted 17 March 2007

Thousands protest; 6 US soldiers killed

Thousands of protestors took to the streets of the Sadr City district of Baghdad on Friday, despite a curfew in that city. The events was one of several protests against the ongoing U.S. occupation and came just one day after U.S. senators rejected a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.

American politicians and media continue to ignore demands by Iraqis to leave the country.

Residents are particularly concerned over restrictions on democratic freedoms, checkpoints, home searches and arbitrary arrests of innocent Iraqis. Door-by-door searchs and airstrikes on civilian neighborhoods has become a daily occurance of Washington's new escalation.

Also on Friday, the mayor of Sadr City, was wounded when gunmen opened fire on his car and a senior police officer was killed. Several bombs jolted Baghdad and there are fears of major offensives over the weekend - the 4th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The U.S. commander in Iraq is seeking the deployment of an additional army brigade of 2,500 to 3,000 troops, according to The Boston Globe. Senior Pentagon officials, said Gen. David Petraeus, in a request not yet made public, was asking for a combat aviation unit that would also involve dozens of transport helicopters and gunships.

Portugal announced that it was closing its Iraq embassy in the Green Zone due to security concerns.

The U.S. military in Iraq says six American soldiers were killed in separate incidents over the past two days. Four soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bomb explosion Thursday in eastern Baghdad, where two bombs went off as the soldiers were returning from a search operation. The second explosion caused the U.S. casualties.

Also on Thursday, one soldier died of injuries sustained during combat operations in Salah ad Din province, north of Baghdad. A Marine died Wednesday in a non-combat related incident in the restive Al Anbar province. posted 16 March 2007

Iraqis hit by "friendly fire"; 3,200 US dead

A parked car bomb struck a bus packed with workers in a volatile city south of Baghdad Thursday, killing at least four people and wounding 24 and injuring untold others.

The explosion occurred at 7:30 a.m. as the bus was carrying employees of a state-owned car company to work in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad

In baghdad, a roadside bomb went off in the southern Saidiya district of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing two people

U.S. forces targeting al Qaeda militants in the northern city of Mosul killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded three after thinking they were insurgents, the U.S. military said in a statement.

At least two dozen bodies were found overnight in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Dhuluiya.

Gunmen set fire to an office of the political movement of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the town of Kefil, south of Hilla, on Wednesday night.

Another US death announced by commanders in Iraq today pushes the American toll since the war began to at least 32-hundred-one.

The United States Senate has begun debate on a plan to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq by the end of March next year. posted 15 March 2007

Bombings hit north; Arrests in Baghdad

Suicide bombers struck a market in northern Iraq and an Iraqi military checkpoint in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people.

In the worst attack, a man wearing an explosives belt strolled into an outdoor market in Tuz Khormato, south of Kirkuk, and blew himself up.

The blast occurred just before noon as the market was crowded with shoppers in the city killinng least eight people and wounding 25.

In Baghdad, offensive operations continue in Sadr City, where 600 Iraqis have been arrested as part of a crackdown against the Medhi "Army".

Also in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing one person and wounding four in the western Yarmouk district. Gunmen wounded Mudhafer al-Ubaidi, the head of Baghdad's Adhamiya Municipality, and killed two of his bodyguards.

In Iskandariya, a Sunni mosque was badly damaged on Tuesday when gunmen planted bombs inside it.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was greeted by a large cheering crowd as he returned to Iraq on Wednesday after two weeks in a Jordanian hospital where he was recovering from exhaustion. Iraqiya state-funded television showed people waving Kurdish flags and others dancing to loud music.

Talabani, a former Kurdish rebel leader in his early 70s, was flown to Jordan for medical tests on Feb. 25 for fatigue and blood pressure and had been recuperating in hospital since. posted 14 March 2007

Out of Iraq now!; Mourning continues

Nearly six in ten Americans want to see U.S. troops leave Iraq either immediately or within a year, and more would rather have Congress running U.S. policy in the conflict than President Bush, according to a CNN poll out Tuesday.

Though support for Bush's decision to dispatch additional troops to Iraq grew to 37 percent -- up from 32 percent in a mid-January poll -- a slim majority of 52 percent say Congress should block funding for the new deployment.

In Baghdad on Tuesday, a mortar attack killed three people and wounded six others in the central Karadda district. Gunmen opened fire at a police vehicle killing three policemen and wounding two in Zayuna district in eastern Baghdad. A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded two people in the northern part of the city.

In Mosul, a total of 13 bodies with gunshot wounds were found during the last 48 hours. Gunmen opened fire at a police patrol killing one policeman and wounding three in the northern city of Kirkuk.

Hundreds of Shiite mourners turned out yesterday for funerals a day after a suicide car bomber rammed a flatbed truck packed with pilgrims returning from weekend rites in Kerbala, killing 32 people. posted 13 March 2007

5 US soldiers dead; UN to boost refugee support

Residents of Sadr City conducted funerals on Monday for the victims of Sunday's bombing attacks in the district of Baghdad.

Also in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded by a roadside bomb that hit their patrol during a mission supporting an air assault southwest of of the city on Sunday. A U.S. marine was killed in combat on Sunday near Fallujah. One soldier was killed and two wounded when a mine exploded under their vehicle in Baghdad on Sunday. Two soldiers died in non-combat incidents in Baghdad and Salah ad Din.

Atotal of 20 bodies were found shot dead on Sunday in different districts of Baghdad.

In Iskandariya, mortar rounds landed on a soccer field killing at least two boys and wounding two others. Several individuals were killed in towns throughout Iraq.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has begun a one-week mission to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to strengthen support for displaced Iraqis in the region and the countries hosting them.

George Okoth-Obbo, director of international protection, travelled to Syria on Saturday ahead of an April conference in Geneva on displacement in Iraq. The United Nations estimates 2 million Iraqis now live in nearby countries and about 1.9 million have been displaced within Iraq itself. It estimates more than 727,000 Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes since last month. A statement issued by the agency said the one-week mission is "part of UNHCR's overall efforts to strengthen its protection and assistance programmes for hundreds of thousands of uprooted Iraqis in the region". posted 12 March 2007

Blast kills 32; Bush: 8,200 more Troops

A suicide car bomber rammed a truck carrying Shiite pilgrims returning from a religious commemoration Sunday, killing at least 32 people and injuring 24. The truck was bringing about 70 men and boys home and had reached central Baghdad when it was blasted by the car bomber.

Attacks on other vehicles carrying pilgrims Sunday killed at least five people in Baghdad. A mini bus was blown up by a suicide bomber in Baghdad's Mustansariyah neighbourhood and there was a large car bomb in the Karadda district.

A blast in the reception lobby of the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in the northern city of Mosul killed three guards and wounded two.

Elsewhere throughout Iraq: gunmen shot dead a former Baath party member in Diwaniya. A roadside bomb killed three policemen and wounded seven others while they were trying to dismantle it in the main road in the town of Mussayab. Also in Mussayab, gunmen wearing army uniforms killed two men in a drive-by shooting. Numerous bodies were found in several cities.

The final death toll from the two Katyusha rockets that hit a bus station in a Kurdish area of the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday is three dead and 55 wounded, including women and children.

President Bush approved 8,200 more U.S. troops for Iraq and Afghanistan on top of reinforcements already ordered to those two countries, the White House said Saturday, a move that comes amid a fiery debate in Washington over the Iraq war.

Even while claiming that the situation in Iraq is improving, the president agreed to send 4,700 troops to Iraq in addition to the 21,500 he ordered to go in January, mainly to provide support for those combat forces and to handle more anticipated Iraqi prisoners. posted 11 March 2007

Int'l conference underway; Family killed by US soldiers

A suicide car bomb struck Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City Saturday, killing six Iraqi soldiers and at least 20 civilians and wounding 45 as international envoys met in the Iraqi capital to talk about stabilizing the violence-shattered country.

In central Baghdad, three mortars fell near Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, near where the international summit was being held. Only slight damage was reported.

A Katyusha rocket killed one pilgrim and wounded five others when it landed in Baghdad's Shi'ite Kadhimiya district.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appealed Saturday for international help to cut off networks aiding extremists and warned envoys from neighbors and world powers that Iraq's growing sectarian bloodshed could spill across the Middle East.

Ten Iraqi policemen were missing after insurgents attacked a police station north of Baghdad on Friday, killing one policeman and wounding three more, a police source said. A group of insurgents stormed the police station in Hibhib, in Diyala province, setting fire to vehicles and destroying the building. Fifty people were arrested in a U.S. raid on Friday in Ramadi.

Also on Friday, US forces opened fire on an unarmed Iraqi family's car and killed a father and his two young daughters, the man's wife said today. The US military confirmed that three Iraqis were killed and three more wounded in yesterday's shooting in east Baghdad, after the car's driver ignored or missed signals for him to stop. “They just opened fire randomly on us,” said Akhlas Abduljabbar, a Sunni housewife from Zafaraniyah, south of Baghdad, whose family was travelling through the war-torn city. “They killed my husband and two daughters and my three-year-old boy was wounded in the head.

An Iraqi insurgent group threatened to kill a German woman and her son kidnapped in Iraq unless Germany withdrew its troops from Afghanistan within 10 days, according to a video posted by the group on Saturday. The video, from a previously unknown group calling itself the "Arrows of Righteousness," shows the abducted woman, identified as Hannelore Marianne Krause. posted 10 March 2007

Funereal Friday; Democrats reneging on withdrawal

Funerals were abundants in Baghdad and elsewhere, for the dead killed during the past days throughout Iraq.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki strolled Baghdad’s streets and visited police checkpoints Friday to showcase security ahead of an international conference on Saturday aimed at stabilizing the war-torn country with help from its neighbors. Tight security is being enfored, including the shutdown of several media outlets.

U.S. forces, meanwhile, killed a suspected militant and captured 16 others in raids across Iraq, the military said. The U.S. military also said an Apache attack helicopter killed 12 insurgents who were planning to ambush a U.S. patrol on a highway west of Baghdad airport on Wednesday evening. The airstrike also destroyed a truck mounted with an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.

The Pentagon has approved a request by the new U.S. commander in Iraq for an extra 2,200 military police to help deal with an anticipated increase in detainees during the Baghdad security crackdown.

In Washington, DC Democratic leaders appear to be caving in on earlier commitments to end the war and voter sentiment. Pushed by pro-war members, Democrats are proposing a withdrawal by March, 2008...the end of the 5th year of occupation and war.

Peace and antiwar activists will step up their efforts next week, locally and in the national capital, to demand the cutoff of war funds and a withdrawal during the next six months. Members of Congress who continue to fund the war will be labeled "accomplices" for the upcoming destruction. posted 09 March 2007

"Can't be solved by the military"; Mortars hit airport

Iraq's problems 'can't be solved by military' said General David Petraeus today, speaking at his first press conference since taking control of US forces in Iraq. Despite this statement, US policy almost relies entirely on military options, including patrols to