Early voting began today, and so election-related attacks heightened. At least 17 Iraqis were killed and 82 more were wounded in poll violence across the country. Those who cannot vote on Sunday were encouraged to take advantage of today’s special polling. They include about 850,000 security personnel, prisoners and hospital patients.
Diyala province was the scene of at least two attacks today, one massive. At least 37 Iraqis were killed and 66 more were wounded there and across Iraq. The attacks in Baquba and nearby Saidiya could be part of a campaign to undermine Sunday’s election.
The only city to report casualties, so far, today was Mosul, which saw one Iraqi death. Four other Iraqis were wounded there as well. Meanwhile, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi traveled to Damascus to help mend relations that were damaged when Baghdad blamed Syria for enabling deadly bombings last year. At the same time, Iraq has also improved relations with Kuwait by appointing its first ambassador in 20 years.
Updated at 11:53 p.m. EST, Feb. 28, 2010
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in central and northern Iraq. Thousands of Christians and supporters spent the day protesting attacks against the minority group. Meanwhile, P.M. Maliki came out in support of an election blacklist while distancing from its creators. Also, there may be many more pre-election deaths occurring in Iraq than are being reported.
Violence was light today, but several stories that are all possibly election related made the headlines. The most important ones are the creation of a new Ba’athist blacklist, attacks against Christians, and the strange story about 67 unidentified bodies that a candidate told at a press conference. Unless those 67 corpses turn up, only one Iraqi was killed today and five more were wounded.
Updated at 7:15 p.m. EST, Feb. 23, 2010
With elections just a couple weeks away, the Iraqi government will continue using fraudulent bomb-detection devices even as Baghdad residents brace themselves for more pre-election violence. At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 16 were wounded in light violence today. Also, a U.S. soldier was killed in a vehicular accident in Baghdad today.
At least 31 Iraqis were killed and 15 more were wounded in a storm of attacks across the country. Most of the attacks occurred in and around Baghdad, which has been unusually quiet in recent days. Also, Gen. Ray Odierno admitted that there is a “Plan B” for a slower drawdown of U.S. forces should the political landscape remain chaotic after March elections.
Updated at 7:34 p.m. EST, Feb. 21, 2010
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 20 more were wounded in various attacks across Iraq. Two U.S. helicopter pilots were killed during a hard landing at a base in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, analysts wonder what the withdrawal of a key Sunni group from March elections will mean for Iraq, and whether it will re-ignite the sectarian bloodshed..
A pair of attacks in two major cities took the lion’s share of casualties today. At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 55 more wounded across the country. Meanwhile, many provincial governments and agencies are tightening security ahead of elections, but they have also given journalists more freedom to cover them.
Light violence vexed Iraq, while the election blacklist continued to dominate the headlines. At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, a war of words is breaking out between the current and former vice presidents of the United States.
