Updated at 7:25 p.m EST, Feb. 17, 2007
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for an unannounced visit to Baghdad this morning. A day earlier a Marine was killed in combat in Anbar Province. Also, at least 55 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 108 others were wounded in violent incidents.
While some are lauding the security crackdown in Baghdad, others are warning that militant operations have merely moved to neighboring provinces. Only four militants were killed and 144 captured during associated raids and checkpoint searches in the capital over the last several days. Iraqi forces also laid siege to the area surrounding the Sunni National Dialogue Council headquarters and ordered their guards to lay down their weapons; no casualties were reported. Negotiations are underway with leaders; the party has 11 seats in parliament.
U.S. forces also killed eight gunmen in separate air strikes in Ramadi. And, rockets were launched at British checkpoints in Basra where they caused no casualties.
Elsewhere in the capital, five people were wounded in a bombing near the al-Ghadir bridge, and two children were wounded in a bombing in the Ur neighborhood. Also, five bodies were recovered scattered in Baghdad.
In Kirkuk, a double car bombing at a marketplace killed 11 and wounded 83 others.
Heavy clashes took place in Hit where two policemen were killed, five were wounded and up to 50 gunmen were arrested. A four-day curfew remains in place.
In Hilla, a policewoman and her young daughter were killed when gunmen stormed her home. A roadside bomb killed a policeman and wounded three others. Also, a body was found floating in the Euphrates.
Two headless bodies were fished out of the al-Malih River at Suwayra.
Three bodies were found in Khalis.
A police officer was gunned down after work in Kut.
At a checkpoint just north of Karbala, a suicide car bomber wounded two policemen.
In Fallujah, gunmen attacked an Iraqi army base, leaving an unspecified number of casualties. A U.S. tank was burned during a separate attack.
Three decomposed bodies were discovered dumped together near a Shi’ite mosque in Balad.
In Baquba, mortar shells fell on al-Huwayder village where they killed one civilian and wounded ten others. Elsewhere, ten gunmen were killed during an attack on a checkpoint in town.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
