If the Iraqi authorities are to be believed, at least 142 militants were killed in security operations and clashes today. The military is conducting extensive operations in Anbar province, neighboring Babil province, and even north towards Mosul in Nineveh province, which also borders Anbar province. Independent confirmation cannot be obtained from the battle zones. Over 40 civilians and security personnel were also killed. At least 180 people were killed and 59 more were wounded in these attacks and security operations.
In Anbar:
In Falluja, shelling left four dead and five wounded. A gun battle that left four militants dead also killed two soldiers and wounded a third one.
Eighteen militants were killed and two more were wounded during operations in Sajar and Jamiaat al-Falluja.
In Amiriyat al-Falluja, nine militants were killed.
Operations in adjacent Babil province left 30 militants dead and six wounded in Jurf al-Sakhar. A police chief declared most of the area free of militants. The survivors fled into the desert.
Also in Babil, six militants were bombed to death in Fadhiliya.
Elsewhere:
A car bomb in Mosul killed two soldiers and wounded four more; a civilian may also have been killed. A separate bomb wounded two professors. Two policemen were blown up. A policeman was shot dead. South of the city, 35 militants were killed in security operations.
Four people were killed and 12 more were wounded when a bomb blew up at a market in Mahmoudiya.
In Baghdad, three shoppers were killed and seven more were wounded in a blast at a Maamil market. A blast on a commercial street in western Baghdad left two dead and seven wounded. Three off-duty policemen were killed when gunmen attacked their apartment building; a fourth person was also killed. Gunmen kidnapped a parliamentary candidate, and they injured his father and brother during the kidnapping. A civilian was gunned down in Shabb.
Gunmen in Balad killed an officer and wounded three soldiers. An I.E.D. at a farm killed three farmers and wounded two more.
A car bomb in Qayara killed two policemen. A policeman was shot dead.
In Tikrit, two policemen were killed and two more were wounded in a shooting.
Gunmen killed a policeman and wounded two more in Ishaqi.
A civilian was killed in a drive-by shooting in Bani Saad.
A kidnapped woman was rescued in Basra. Gunmen killed an officer and wounded his driver.
In Muqdadiya, gunmen wounded a married couple.
Forty militants were killed during an operation in Ein al-Jahash.
