Updated at 8:30 p.m. EDT, Oct. 23, 2009
As US envoy to the UN Susan Rice visited Baghdad to hold talks with Prime Minister Maliki about ending U.N. sanctions on Iraq, a United Nations spokesman separately said it was concerned that Iraqi refugees in Europe are being forcibly returned to a dangerous, war-torn country. The prayer day has so far been rather quiet. At least five Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani warned of chaos if January’s national elections are delayed.
A bomb attached to a car in Abu Ghraib killed the driver and another family member. Three other family members were wounded.
In Mosul, a gunman killed a guard at a crowded market. A policeman was shot dead elsewhere. A sniper wounded a soldier.
Gunmen wounded two civilians in Khanaqin, where police arrested a suspect in a separate location.
A roadside bomb in Baaj killed one soldier. Two more were wounded.
In Baghdad, a bomb left on a tanker exploded but left no casualties.
No casualties were reported after a U.S. base in Kut suffered a missile attack.
An I.E.D. targeting a police patrol in Kirkuk left no casualties.
Police in Baquba detained 12 suspects and discovered a bomb making factory.
Thirteen suspects were arrested in Fallujah.
