Friday: 2 US GIs, 1 Iraqi Killed; 3 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 8:48 p.m EDT, June 5, 2009

Two U.S. soldiers were reported killed on an otherwise quiet prayer day in which only one Iraqi was reported killed and three Iraqis were wounded.

The U.S. military reported that a U.S. soldier was killed in a grenade attack in Diyala province yesterday. Also, a U.S Marine died today in a non-combat incident in Anbar province. Meanwhile, an Army Reserve officer was sentenced to 30 months in prison for her role in a contractor fraud scheme.

In Baghdad, a bomb blast near the Bunniyah mosque in Allawi wounded two people. Another bomb, this one targeting a U.S. patrol on the Muhammed al Qassim highway, left no casualties.

The body of a policeman was found in Jalawla. Gunmen kidnapped him Thursday night.

One person was wounded in a random shooting in Kut. The gunman was captured.

Nineteen suspects were arrested in Basra.

Karbala police captured a suspect and collected 57 cannonballs in separate incidents.

Turkey’s General Staff spokesman Metin Gurak said that six Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels were killed during the past two weeks. Another eight rebels surrendered or were captured. He also reported that six Turkish soldiers were killed and eight more were wounded. These casualties all came despite a proposed truce offered by the PKK. The PKK wants an independent Kurdistan in parts of Turkey, Iraq and other neighboring countries. They have used northern Iraq as a base from which they launched attacks into Turkey.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.