At least eight Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has documented accounts of demonstrator harassment during the ongoing protests in Suleimaniya. In the latest accusation, Kurdish security forces stood idly as masked men attacked protestors. Some witnesses believe the Kurdish government sent the “thugs.” Also, a U.S. spokesman corrected reports stating that U.S. troops had arrested an Iraqi cop and affirmed that Iraqi forces had carried out the arrest instead.
At least seven Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in light violence.
A deadly blast shattered an otherwise quiet day in Iraq, where at least 27 Iraqis were killed and 76 more were wounded, almost all of them in Balad Ruz. To the south a possibly accidental chlorine gas explosion brought back memories of the chlorine attacks that marked the height of the sectarian violence several years ago. In better news, a successful trade in Kirkuk liberated two Kurdish women who were kidnapped a day earlier.
At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 37 more were wounded, mostly in a pair of suicide bombings in Mosul and near Baghdad. Meanwhile, a human rights group is criticizing new rules that hurt the free press. Also, P.M. Maliki’s premiership is apparently in its death throes as potential partners turn away, but it is perhaps his other actions that underscore how fragile his grasp on power really is.
