U.S. Soldier Wounded in Iraq, 194 Killed in Battles

A U.S. soldier was wounded as he was on guard duty in Besmaya. A bullet grazed his nose, then he and another soldier returned fire.

Shi’ite commander Hadi al-Amiri, who is the head of the Badr Organization political party, hailed support from Iran while criticizing U.S. efforts.

Sheikh Abdel Sattar Abdul Jabbar called on authorities to stop Shi’ite militiamen from attacking Sunni civilians in order to keep sectarian tensions low.

No civilian casualties were reported, but at least 194 people were killed and 93 more were wounded in battles and bombings.

Military operations in Tikrit paused to allow for the arrival of reinforcements, including the return of militiamen associated with Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. He had removed them due to allegations that other Shi’ite militias were attacking civilians and their property. It had also slowed due to the number of booby-traps left around the city. Six soldiers were killed and 11 were wounded by a roadside bombing in the al-Dyum neighborhood. At least 70 militants have been killed.

An attack in Samarra left eight security members and nine militants dead. Another 14 soldiers were injured.

Nine Peshmerga were killed and 53 more were wounded in fighting near Kirkuk, where the Kurdish forces launched their own operation against the militants.

In Saqlawiya, three soldiers were killed and five were wounded in two suicide attacks. Five suicide bombers killed.

In Baghdad, gunmen killed an intelligence officer.

A car bomb in Mullah Abdullah village left ten policemen wounded, including a chief.

In Mosul, militants executed 38 of their own men for abandoning the battlefield. Dozens more were killed in an airstrike.

Security forces killed 16 militants in Garma.

Seven suicide bombers were killed in Ramadi.

In Qaim, security forces killed at least seven militant leaders.

Six militants were killed in Salah ad Din province, near the border with Diyala.

Five militants were killed in Sinjar.

In Alam, a suicide bomber was killed.

Two militant leaders were killed in Riyadh.

A suicide bomber was killed in Daquq.

Author: Margaret Griffis

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