Updated at 6:05 p.m. EDT, Oct. 13, 2009
At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in the latest violence. The political atmosphere in Baghdad, however, nearly eclipsed the reports of attacks across the country. Parliamentary speaker Iyad Al Samarrai warned that issues surrounding Kirkuk could stall the adoption of a new election law. Meanwhile, the Iraqi parliament approved the return of a small number of British troops. Also, Baghdad Operations Command complained their arrests are being politicized.
Iraqi vets who served at a water treatment plant near Basra are being tracked down and asked to take medical exams. Sodium dichromate contamination at the Qarmat Ali plant has sickened an unknown number of vets. Meanwhile, British troops will soon return to protecting Iraqi infrastructure and training Iraqi soldiers in and around Basra. They were forced to leave when the U.N. mandate allowing their presence expired and Iraqi lawmakers were unable to agree on a new mandate.
Before detonating his explosives, a suicide bomber followed an Awakening Council (Sahwa) leader into a marketplace in Buhriz . The leader and seven others were killed and 10 more people were wounded. Several Sahwa fighters were among the casualties.
Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and four were wounded during an explosion in Rashad.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb blast wounded a policeman in Muhandiseen. A blast in Zanjili wounded two women. In Boursa, a bomb wounded a guard at a checkpoint.
In Baghdad, a spokesman for the B.O.C. denied bias in recent arrests and claimed that politicians are “politicizing” the arrests for their own purposes.
The U.S. army denied that they came under attack at the Basra airport yesterday.
Two I.E.D.s were defused in Nasariya.
Three suspects were arrested near Amara. Weapons were discovered in a separate location.
A landmine explosion blamed on Kurdish rebels wounded two Turkish soldiers in southeastern Turkey.
A Katyusha rocket fell in Diwaniya.
Two suspects were arrested after a bomb was defused in Fallujah.
A suspected al-Qaeda leader was arrested in Mansouriya.
UNESCO released a study on water shortages due to the four-year-long drought. Adding to problem is Iraq’s ancient aqueduct system which has fallen into disrepair.
