Updated at 6:45 p.m. EDT, May 29, 2009
In an unusually active prayer day, at least 20 Iraqis were killed and 36 more were wounded in attacks across central and northern Iraq; more wounded were reported in an attack in Safra. A U.S. soldier was killed in Ninewa province today as well, when gunmen lobbed a hand grenade at his patrol. Also, Bangladesh plans to reopen its Iraq embassy soon.
Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to not commit violence against homosexuals. Although he considers homosexuality to be “depraved” and against Islamic teaching, Sadr firmly warned potential attackers that this type of violence will not be tolerated. Last month, six men were killed in suspected anti-homosexual violence. Another four men were found alive but tortured.
Although Iraqi Kurdistan began pumping oil to Turkey this week, the question of oil rights and the potential for sectarian violence remains.
Six people were killed and as many as 12 were injured during an I.E.D. blast in Khalis. A second bomb attached to a car killed one person and wounded three others.
A bicycle bomb blast at an Awakening Council (Sahwa) checkpoint in Amin or near a butcher shop in Baquba killed a Sahwa leader and wounded six others, including four Sahwa fighters. A home in Amin was also blown up but no casualties were reported.
Two children were killed and four family members were wounded during a blast in Qurat Taba.
Peshmerga security forces wounded six Yazidi civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, in Sinjar. A fight broke out between the Kurdish fighters and the Yazidis. The Peshmerga then issued arrest warrants for the Yazidis, who were resisting arrest when they were injured.
The bodies of a man and woman were discovered near Makhmour in Takh village.
A man’s decomposed body was discovered in the mostly Christian town of Tal Kief.
In Mosul, a woman was shot to death yesterday. One Iraqi was killed in an grenade attack that also left one U.S. soldier dead. Also, two Iraqi soldiers were killed in a small arms attack.
Two people were killed and two others were wounded during a bombing in Khanaqin.
A bomb in Mandili left one dead and three injured.
Twenty-one suspects were detained in Basra.
Near Kirkuk in Safra village, a bomb wounded an unknown number of bodyguards for for an army major-general.
