Updated at 11:41 p.m. EDT, June 20, 2008
At least 17 Iraqis were killed and 37 more were wounded in the light violence on the prayer day. The security crackdown in Amara continues without violence, but Sadrists complain Iraqi forces are violating ceasefire conditions. Also, one American soldier was killed and five more were wounded in three separate bombings in Diyala province.
Although Amara has remained peaceful into the second day of a “security crackdown,” Sadrists are complaining that the U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are conducting random detentions of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s followers. This is in violation of a truce agreed to by the central government and al-Sadr followers. A senior province official was arrested. Over 200 policemen were detained and six other suspects were also captured.
In Baghdad, three people were killed and eight were wounded during a car bombing in Harthiya. U.S. forces killed four suspects and detained 18 more in and around the capital. Roadside bombs targeting U.S. troops in Beirut Square and Doura failed to leave casualties. Also, a dumped body was discovered.
In Mosul, a suicide bomber wounded five policemen in al-Wehda. Eleven policemen were wounded in a separate bombing. Two bodies, belonging to a woman and her child were found. Also, five suspects were detained.
Two bodies were discovered in an Iskandariya mosque. The two were kidnapped two years ago.
In Baquba, an I.E.D. killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded three others.
Gunmen killed a university student in Buhriz.
The decomposed body of a 40-year-old woman was found in Aziziya.
The body of a policeman was found near the al-Khadhraa water project.
Gunmen blew up two homes in Saidiya. The homes were abandoned but a passerby was injured in the explosion.
A roadside bomb in Duluiya injured three policemen.
In Khan Bani Saad, 68 displaced families were able to return to their homes.
Reconstruction efforts in Hit are halted until the end of an investigation into corruption allegations.
A bomb was defused under the Kirkuk pipeline.
Also, Turkish media reported killed two Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) rebels in southeastern Turkey.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
