The speaker of parliament, Osama al-Nujaifi, is on a trip to Washington to meet with U.S. leaders. The top Sunni politician said that the Sunnis are hoping the situation in Anbar province will force Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government to give greater power to Sunnis. However, the deterioration of security in Anbar was due to the government shutting down a Sunni protest camp in Ramadi last month. U.S. officials agreed that the Sunnis need to be better armed against the insurgents.
Meanwhile, at least 23 were killed and 51 were wounded, mostly in Anbar province. The government also announced that 11 men were put to death on terrorism-related charges. This brings the total for the week and year to 37 executed.
Shelling in Falluja killed four people and wounded 18 more.
A bomb near Hit left one policeman dead and three more wounded.
Heavy shelling killed one person and wounded another in Albu Bali.
Two insurgents were killed in Kerkh Valley near the Syrian border.
In Abu Ghraib, two soldiers were killed and 18 more were wounded during clashes.
Three people were killed and four more were wounded when a roadside bomb blasted a bus in Jurf al-Sakhar.
In Baghdad, security forces accidentally shot and wounded a woman when they fired into the air. A suicide bomber was shot dead before he could blow up his explosives.
In Mosul, gunmen killed three people inside a home. A bomb left one soldier dead and four wounded. Gunmen wounded two soldiers.
Gunmen killed a contractor in Badush.
A dumped body was found in Zubayr.
Three gunmen were killed in a clash in Baquba.
A bomb in Muqdadiya wounded two soldiers.
