Updated at 8:15 p.m. EDT, Sept. 10, 2009
Bombings to the south of Baghdad almost overshadow the new casualties stemming from a bombing in northern Iraq that was reported late yesterday. Overall, at least 12 Iraqis were killed and 86 more were wounded in the latest attacks. The figure includes the news casualties from Wardek. U.S. ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill promised the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the U.S. will stick to its drawdown timetable despite recent violence.
Updated at 9:03 p.m. EDT, Sept. 8, 2009
The recent surge in violence has now left four U.S. soldiers dead in separate attacks. At least 17 Iraqis were also killed and 46 more were wounded. The Iraqi army had to intervene in one bombing when relatives of the dead staged a revenge attack on a neighboring village. Also, Turkish soldiers clashed with the PKK in southeastern Turkey.
Updated at 7:10 p.m. EDT, Sept. 7, 2009
At least 39 Iraqis were killed and 70 more were wounded in the latest violence. The uptick in attacks included significant bombings in Ramadi and Baquba, and a series of attacks in Baghdad. Details from a Karbala bombing are still sketchy, but it could turn out to be the bloodiest bombing of the day. No Coalition deaths were reported.
Updated at 7:37 p.m .EDT, Sept. 2, 2009
At least four Iraqis were killed and 16 more were wounded on a day marked by significant political and security news concerning a British hostage, U.S. contractors, Iraq’s death row and political squabbles in northern Iraq.
Updated at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Sept. 1, 2009
Four Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded in very light violence. Four of the wounded were previously unreported casualties from a bombing yesterday. Meanwhile, Iraq scheduled a national census for October of next year, hoping that the late date with thwart any sectarian tensions in the oil-rich north.
Updated at 6:52 p.m. EDT, Aug. 20, 2009
A series of bombings just south of Baghdad in Babel province have killed or wounded over 200 people just a day after a similar series of attacks in Baghdad. Unlike the ones in Baghdad, the blasts did not seem to target government buildings. At least three blasts were reported but reports are sketchy. Overall, at least 40 Iraqis were killed and 223 more were wounded across the country. The holy month of Ramadan begins tomorrow with the sighting of the crescent moon.
The other day, President Obama made a speech in which, among other things, he pledged that the U.S. would withdraw from Iraq on schedule. The question is: according to whose schedule? Because shortly after Obama spoke, the Iraqi government announced it wants to hold a referendum in January on whether U.S. forces should leave earlier …
Continue reading “Out Now!”
Updated at 8:55 p.m. EDT, Aug. 11, 2009
At least nine Iraqis were killed and 50 more were wounded just a day after the bloodiest spasm of violence since the pullback of U.S. troops. A U.S. soldier died in Kuwait of injuries sustained in a non-combat incident as well. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti authorities arrested six people suspected of plotting an attack against the U.S. base there. Many U.S. soldiers there are either supporting the Iraq operation or are using the base as a transit point between Iraq and other locations. Also, the Pentagon admitted fears over Arab-Kurd tensions.
A recent meeting between Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Massoud Barzani appears to be a crucial step in lowering tensions in the country, but it has also prompted questions as to whether the two leaders can put an end to their differences. The meeting came as the fever of presidential and parliamentary …
Continue reading “Chance of a Breakthrough With the Kurds?”
Updated at 1:00 p.m. EDT, July 29, 2009
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 119 more were wounded in attacks that included a raid on Camp Ashraf, where perhaps eight Iranians were also killed and 425 more were wounded. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is visiting Iraq, said that some U.S. troops may leave Iraq ahead of schedule and separately offered to mediate in the ongoing Kurd-Arab dispute. Also, the British foreign office warned families of two British hostages that their loved ones are likely dead.
