New violence left 11 Iraqis dead and 10 more wounded. Separately, a mass grave yielded 27 decomposed bodies. Meanwhile, Turkey renewed its air strikes against rebels in northern Iraq, and Iran declared victory in its own operations on a related group of Kurdish rebels.
Turkish authorities said that warplanes bombed the main Kurdish rebel base in northern Iraq, while 2,000 troops combed the Turkish province of Tunceli looking for a Kurdish suspect. The renewed operations occurred a day after suspected rebel attacks in Turkey left eight dead and 36 wounded. Today, more injuries were reported after a new attack on a police high school in Bitlis province.
Over 40,000 have died since the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) began fighting for an independent Kurdistan nearly three decades ago. Turkey claims to have hit 152 targets in northern Iraq air strikes since Aug. 17, but independent verification is almost impossible in the sparsely populated region.
Separately, Iran declared that its own operations have successfully cleared Iraqi border areas of P.K.K. offshoot Party Of A Free Life Of Kurdistan rebels. It is unclear if they will continue operations deeper inside Iraq.
In Daniya, a mass grave gave up 27 victims. The age of the grave was not reported, but it could date to the height of sectarian violence in Diyala province. Separately, the Human Rights Ministry said it would launch a center dedicated to identifying victims found in mass graves.
Five soldiers were killed when a bomb blasted their patrol in Diyala province. Three Bangladeshi women were kidnapped.
In Baghdad, a police colonel was killed during a sticky bomb blast in Ameriya. A bomb in Udhaim killed two policemen. A grocer was killed in Zaafaraniya. Then gunmen killed the owner of a nearby mobile phone store. Also in Zaafaraniya, a bomb wounded two civilians.
Gunmen killed a policeman in Baaj.
A sticky bomb planted on a car in Kirkuk, left the driver and his wife with injuries. Last night gunmen shot a man, injuring his arm, during a kidnapping attempt.
In Hwira, a bomb wounded three civilians.
Gunmen stormed a home in Muqdadiya where they wounded a man and his son.
Three Christians were abducted in Duquq.
An I.E.D. blasted a U.S. patrol passing through the Salam district near Baquba.
