Saturday: 2 US Soldiers, 3 Iraqis Killed; 11 Iraqis Wounded

by Margaret Griffis, May 09, 2009

Updated at 6:10 p.m. EDT, May 9, 2009

At least three Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in the latest violence. In one attack a police general was killed in Basra even a security forces claimed the province was safe enough for foreign workers. Two U.S. soldiers died in separate incidents.

One U.S. soldier was killed in Balad of unreported causes. A second U.S. soldier died in a vehicular accident in Baghdad.

A senior security official claimed that all areas of Basra province are now under control and security forces could guarantee the safety of foreign workers; however, gunmen killed a police general in the town of Zubair today. A bomb was defused there as well. Also, security forces arrested 10 wanted men during a continuing operation that have netted dozens of suspects in recent weeks throughout Basra, but may actually be part of a harassment campaign against rival militia groups. Accurate casualty figures from the province have always been elusive and violence there remains underreported.

In Mosul, gunmen killed an off-duty policeman and wounded three civilians at a market. One civilian was wounded in a roadside bomb blast.

Five civilians were wounded during a blast in Saidiya.

Near Makhmour, the body of a young man was discovered.

A woman and a child were wounded in Amara during a Katyusha rocket attack.

Twenty suspects were arrested in an ongoing operation in Diyala province.

Eighteen suspects were detained in Fallujah, while 30 others were were cleared of charges and released.

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