Updated at 4:55 p.m. EDT, Oct. 16, 2008
A mass grave containing 22 bodies was discovered near Karbala. At least 19 Iraqis were killed and another 60 were wounded in other incidents as well, but no Coalition deaths were reported.
The White House dismissed earlier reports that a U.S-Iraqi security deal has been reached. Among issues stalling the agreement are immunity for U.S. troops and the length of their stay. Also, the U.S. military plans to send 35,000 troops home soon.
U.S forces said they identified the body of Abu Qaswarah, who was the second in command of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He was killed Oct. 5 during a security operation in Mosul. The military did not specify if he was killed during a controversial raid that left a number of civilian women and children dead on that day. He was a native of Morocco who also held Swedish citizenship.
Today in Mosul, two six-year-olds were wounded when they found a bomb in a carton box. Police accidentally killed a civilian man and wounded a woman. Four policemen were wounded during a roadside bomb attack in Yabsat. Gunmen killed a civilian and wounded four others in Khazraj. A roadside bomb wounded two Iraqi soldiers in Intisar. Police killed a gunman who was attacking their patrol. Last night, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded nine civilians instead. A bomb damaged a church but left no casualties in al-Noor. Also, 15 suspects, including an Egyptian man, were arrested in separate raids.
In Baghdad, a bomb blast near an electrical plant left five dead and 12 wounded. A pair of roadside bombs at an Awakening Council (Sahwa) base in Doura wounded two Sahwa members and four Iraqi soldiers. One person was killed and four more were wounded during a roadside bomb blast near the Diyala Bridge. Mortars struck near a Sunni mosque in Adhamiya, killing two people and injuring six others. A roadside bomb on Palestine St. lured victims to a second bomb; two policemen were killed and two civilians were wounded. Two dumped bodies were recovered. Also, no casualties were reported when mortars struck near the airport. Police reported shelling in the Green Zone, but the U.S. military denied the attack and said it was controlled blasts.
Police found a mass grave containing 22 bodies in a deserted area near Karbala in Abu Aisha. The victims were shepherds who had gone missing last year. Elsewhere in Karbala, an intelligence officer and two of his children were wounded in a roadside bombing.
A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded four others in Balad Ruz.
A civilian was killed in Kut.
In Saidiya, gunmen killed two people, including a policeman, and injured a third person.
Two al-Qaeda suspects were captured during a security raid in Jalawla.
In Rabiaa, a Syrian suspect was detained.
Police are installing 21 surveillance cameras in Diyala province.
Doctors not only continue to diagnose new cholera cases, but now the epidemic has apparently spread to northern Iraq.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
