Updated at 9:29 p.m. EDT, July 6, 2010
At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 48 were wounded in attacks that focused on pilgrims traveling through Baghdad for an important Shi’ite observance. Reports were scarce from other regions of the country, perhaps due to tightening security ahead of the holiday. There were several other stories mostly regarding foreign relations, but even the plight of Iraqi widows made the headlines.
A day after Kurdish and Iraqi security forces clashed in Qurat Tabba, U.S Army Gen. Ray Odierno suggested that a U.N. peacekeeping force might be needed to replace outgoing U.S. troops. Because of these ongoing tensions, American soldiers, along with both federal and Kurdish troops, currently man checkpoints that delineate a de facto border that separates Kurdish from Arab Iraq. The Kurdish Regional Government wants to incorporate the traditionally Kurdish land into its semi-autonomous state, but the central government will not give up these oil-rich regions easily.
Turkish officials warned that relations with Iraq and the United States could turn sour if something is not done to quash the threat from Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels. At least 10 rebels and three Turkish soldiers were killed during an overnight clash near the Iraqi border in Turkey, while others were injured in separate incidents.
Army Spc. Bradley Manning has been charged with leaking classified data and putting national security at risk in the case of a military video that showed U.S. helicopters gunning down unarmed Iraqis.
British families of soldiers killed in Iraq feel let down by a lack of adequate support following the deaths of their loved ones. Meanwhile, the financial situation of Iraq’s numerous widows remains even grimmer.
Spain has reopened a probe into the 2003 death of a Spanish journalist, who was killed when U.S. troops responded to what they believed was hostile fire at the Baghdad Hotel.
In Baghdad, three Shi’ite pilgrims were wounded in a blast while traveling through Yarmouk. A mortar attack in Shula left one pilgrim dead and nine more wounded; at least one of the injured later died. Four pilgrims were wounded in a blast in Doura/Abu Dsheer. Five were wounded in Fadiliyah when they came across a roadside bomb. In New Baghdad, a bomb killed four pilgrims and wounded 14 more. In Kadhimiya, a blast wounded five. A bomb on the Qassim Highway left one wounded. A mortar attack in Kadhimiya killed three and injured eight late in the evening. Also, Baghdad Operations Command opened fired on a satellite crew covering observances in Kadhimiya; no one was injured, but the crew had permission to be there.
In Mosul, gunmen killed two women.
No casualties were reported after gunmen staged an assassination attempt on an Iraqiya M.P. who was traveling on a highway near Tikrit.
