Updated at 12:45 a.m EDT, April, 26, 2007
Violence in Iraq was at a moderate level on Wednesday as the UN scolded the Iraqi government for holding back figures on civilian deaths. Overall, the media reported that 52 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 80 were injured in violent attacks. The U.S. military reported that a GI was killed in a non-hostile incident. A British soldier was also killed.
Military sources reported on the death of a GI in Baghdad and on a British soldier who was killed in Basra yesterday. This death marks April as the bloodiest month for British soldiers since March of 2003. April has also been deadly for American troops with a daily average nearing four soldiers per day. The toll for April is at least 86 American deaths and 11 British.
In similar news, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) is scolding Iraq for refusing to release figures indicating the true number of civilian deaths in the country lest the true picture of a worsening sectarian crises is revealed. Iraqi officials have also modified a controversial plan to enclose a Baghdad neighborhood with concrete walls and barbed wire. And, U.S. forces have issued ID cards for residents of Ramadi.
In Baghdad, 18 unidentified bodies were found scattered in separate locations. Four people were killed and eight injured when a bomb blew up at a Shaab district petrol station. Mortars fell on Abu Dsheer, killing one person and injuring seven others. A mortar hurt one person in Saidiya. A roadside bomb in Adhamiya wounded three Iraqi soldiers. An Iraqi interpreter was injured during an attack on a U.S. patrol in Rashid. Two people were killed and two others injured during random shooting in Hurriyah. In Amariya, an Iraqi soldier was killed during clashing. Mortars injured four in Jisr Disala and a traffic cop in Waziriya. Also, five people were killed and 17 wounded during a previously unreported mortar attack in Zaafaraniya yesterday; two more were injured in an attack today.
Nine people were killed and 16 others injured in a suicide bombing attack at a Balad Ruz police station.
Iraq’s former body-building champion, Ali al-Bayati, was assassinated in Mosul; sports figures, teachers, television personalities and other high profile Iraqis are often the targets of violence. Two civilians were also killed and a third person wounded, and a roadside bomb injured five people. Also, gunmen attacked a bakery, killing the baker and his apprentice and wounding two customers.
In Salman Bek, an attack on a police patrol left two officers dead and three injured.
A body was found near Hilla.
Gunmen in Kut injured two Iraqi soldiers.
In Kirkuk, a body belonging to a policeman was found. A roadside bomb in central Kirkuk injured two policemen.
A ban on vehicles was imposed on Hit.
Four people were injured during a mortar attack on Sab al-Boor.
A civilian was killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Shirqat.
The U.S. military reported killing a senior al-Qaeda leader who was accused of sending boys on suicide missions; he was killed in a firefight last Friday in Anbar province.
The Iraqi army reported killing two suspects and detaining 122 more in unspecified locations.
Gunmen killed two civilians in Fallujah.
In Diwaniyah, a hand grenade throw at an Iraqi army vehicle injured two civilians instead.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
