Update at 6:42 p.m. EDT, Oct. 13, 2008
At least two Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded in an unusually quiet Monday. A U.S. soldier died in of non-combat causes. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has told British troops it is time to go home. Also, General Odierno, commander of U.S. forces, accused Iran of bribing Iraqi officials into opposing a U.S-Iraq security agreement that will allow U.S. forces to continue in Iraq after December.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb in Ur wounded five people. Mortars hit the Green Zone but no casualties were reported. Also, an 80-year-old woman was detained after security forces were unable to capture her son.
In Mosul, gunmen stormed the home of a policeman and killed him. Gunmen stormed a home and killed a male resident. The nephew of a man previously reported as killed when gunman stormed his shop last night was also wounded during the attack. A suspect was arrested and a cache of weapons was confiscated.
Also, the director of the Ministry of Displacement and Migration warned that Christian refugees, fleeing targeted violence in Mosul, are in desperate need of basic supplies. At least 5,000 Christian Iraqis have moved to nearby towns in recent days. The perpetrators are unknown, but blame has been lobbed at such diverse groups as al-Qaeda and Kurdish politicians. The Iraqi army has at last deployed troops in Christian areas of Mosul as a safety measure.
A roadside bomb wounded an Iraqi soldier today in Tuz Khormato. Another bomb blast targeted the home of director of the National Department and injured a civilian. Also, four civilians were wounded when a third bomb exploded outside an electronic game store.
A 24-year-old woman was liberated and her kidnappers were arrested near Amara. Separately, police arrested two suspects after a roadside bomb was detonated; no casualties were reported.
Turkey launched its seventh airstrike against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Accurate casualty figures are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain from this sparsely populated region.
Four al-Qaeda suspects were captured in Baquba.
Seven suspects were detained in Dhi Qar province.
A roadside bomb was defused near Nasariya.
A 59-year-old female was prevented from carrying out a suicide attack in Diyala.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview with The Times that British troops should leave southern Iraq. Al-Maliki has been angry with the British military since at least last year when they made a secret pact with al-Maliki’s political rivals, who are followers of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Earlier this year, The Times implied that a disastrous security operation in Basra was initiated by al-Maliki because he learned the British were about to conduct their own surge into the city. That operation led to weeks of fighting between the Mahdi Army and U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. The fighting ended then thanks to an Iran-brokered truce.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
