Updated at 7:15 p.m. EDT, June 4, 2009
At least two Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Also, a U.S. soldier was killed in a Kirkuk province grenade attack, while a second U.S. soldier was wounded during an attack in Fallujah. Meanwhile, Romanian forces formally ended their mission during a ceremony attended by Romanian president Traian Basescu in Nasariya.
Although a U.S-Iraqi security deal would have all U.S. troops withdrawing from Iraqi cities at the end of the month, the Iraqi military has tentatively given the U.S. military approval to maintain one base in Baghdad. Comanche base is in a critical area near the immense suburb of Sadr City. Its continued operation must also be approved by the Iraqi government, which is politically motivated to ensure that all U.S. troops leave Iraqi cities by June 30.
A U.N. report made public last week accused the U.S. of failing to properly investigate allegedly unlawful killings in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite a promise for transparency, the U.S. is claiming that the U.N. special rapporteur in charge of the investigation exceeded his authority.
Reports of corruption now extend to two British firms operating in Iraq. Corruption allegations against Iraqis and Americans are frequently made in Iraq, but this is the first time that such allegation have been directed at the British. In Wassit province, two Iraqi government employees were arrested on corruption charges.
The Iraqi Justice Ministry released 147 innocent detainees from jails scattered across Iraq. Tens of thousands of innocent detainees have been released in recent months. Many have accused both Iraqi and U.S. forces of incarcerating Iraqis without evidence for months, or years in some cases. Meanwhile, U.S. forces released two journalists after a pair of days in detention.
The Iraqi Army has been deployed to the Mosul Dam, where Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are already in charge of security. Last year, similar deployments in Diyala province led to fighting between the rival security forces in ethnically diverse areas straddling the Kurdistan border. These areas near Iraqi Kurdistan remain disputed thanks to vast oil reserves there.
In Mosul, a bomb targeting a U.S. construction convoy killed one Iraqi and wounded 16 other civilians.
Tal Afar police found the partially dismembered body of an unidentified female.
In Baghdad, two more injured Iraqis were reported from last night’s bombing in Doura, bringing the total to five wounded. A bomb exploded today in Doura, wounding a policeman. Five people were wounded in another Doura area bombing. A pair of roadside bomb in the Yarmouk district left no casualties.
Explosives were discovered in Basra. An Iranian was arrested for planting a bomb.
Security forces detonated three bombs during controlled explosions in Kirkuk.
U.S. forces in Numaniya detained four suspects.
One Turkish soldier was killed and three were wounded after the Turkish military again rejected a truce offer and went after a Kurdistan Rebel Party (PKK) target near the Iraqi border in Turkey. The PKK has offered as truce in its decades long war against Turkey. Many rebels are based in Iraq.
