Updated at 12:25 a.m. EST, Jan. 23, 2007
In today’s violence, a coordinated bomb attack killed dozens and injured over 160 in a Baghdad marketplace. Overall, 158 Iraqis were killed and 226 wounded throughout the country. One American soldier was killed and four more wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Ninewah province today. A British soldier was injured in a traffic accident. Also, Saturday’s deadly Black Hawk helicopter crash is now believed to have been caused by an enemy missile.
CNN is reporting that U.S. military officials now believe a shoulder-fired missile brought down a Black Hawk helicopter. The crash, which killed 12 Americans, is still under investigation. Also, about 30 Iraqis posed as American soldiers in order to gain easy entry to a government building in Karbala on Saturday. The attack left five GIs dead. Saturday, at 25 American deaths, was the third deadliest day for American troops since the war began.
In Baghdad, two car bombs, one parked and one driven by a bomber, exploded almost simultaneously in a Shi’ite marketplace near Tayaran Square; at least 88 were killed and 160 wounded.
Elsewhere in the capital, a female teacher was gunned down and her driver injured in the Khandra area. Iraqi police Colonel Amer Fadhil Abba and Sheikh Riyadh Hassan Jassim, leader of Al-Okailat tribe were shot dead in separate incidents in a western neighborhood. A cell-phone company employee was killed. A pair of mortars fell in the Abu Atsheer area; two people were killed and three wounded. Mortars also fell in Doura where they killed a woman and injured eight students at a primary school. An employee of the Egyptian embassy was kidnapped. Twenty-nine dumped bodies were found scattered in several areas.
In Khalis, at least 19 were killed and 40 wounded when bombs were detonated in a main market area.
A roadside bomb killed three policemen and wounded nine in Tal Afar.
In Mosul, a policeman was injured in a blast. Police reported that a woman was killed and four were injured in a bomb attack yesterday; two soldiers who arrived at the scene were also killed. Eight dumped bodies were also found.
A local government official from Baquba, Khaled al-Sanjari, was kidnapped. Gunmen also attacked the deputy governor of diyala, ABDUL AZIZ AL JUBORI, but only injured two guards instead.
Two mortar rounds fell on an Iraqi army base in Fallujah, but no casualties were reported.
A car bomb in Kirkuk resulted in no casualties.
The Christian owner of a liquor store in al Jamaaiat was killed not long after local clerics warned liquor shop owners to stop sales.
And in Diyala province, operations against militant groups continue. The U.S. military is reporting that 93 suspected rebels have been killed and 57 detained over the last 10 days.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
