Updated at 11:00 p.m. EST, Dec. 26, 2006
While several bombs rocked Baghdad today, the U.S military announced that four GIs were killed and three wounded in separate events. Also, the Iraqi appellate court upheld former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s death sentence. According to Iraqi law, Hussein could be executed within 30 days. Overall, at least 119 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 147 were wounded in violent events throughout the country today.
A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers and wounded a fourth, northwest of Baghdad today. Another soldier was killed in a vehicle rollover south of the capital; two other soldiers were wounded. These deaths not only bring the December tally to 91 American servicemembers killed, but also pushes the total number of American military deaths in Iraq higher than the number of Americans killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
In other Coalition news, precision munitions were used on gunmen planting a roadside bomb in Haqlaniyah; the number of dead or injured is unknown. Near Samsiyah, Coalition forces killed three gunmen.
In Baghdad, 41 unidentified bodies were found in different neighborhoods. Also, three coordinated car bombs killed 26 people and wounded 70 in a southwestern district. Near the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Azamiyah area, another car bomb killed another 20 and wounded 35 others. A separate bomb attack in a central market killed another five and wounded 15 others. Another attack, this one using simultaneous roadside bombs targeting a police patrol, killed a police lieutenant colonel and three other officers and wounded 12 people. Another two people in northern Baghdad were killed by a mortar round.
Also in Baghdad, the director of the Baghdad International Fair, Muhanad Ahmed Saleh, was kidnapped while on his way to work in the Amiriya district. Near the Sadr City district, clashes between the Mahdi militia and U.S. forces erupted; one civilian caught in the crossfire was killed. Also, a senior border official gunned down on his way to work.
In Baiji, a car bomb wounded five people, including a policeman.
A roadside bomb in Kirkuk killed three people, including a child, and wounded six others. Another civilian was gunned down in a separate incident.
Two policemen were wounded in a drive-by shooting near Kirkuk.
Six bodies were found in Baquba.
The body of a shot and tortured policeman was found in Riyadh.
Bank robbers kidnapped three people and stole $750,000 in Basra.
The bodies of a soldier and a civilian were found in Mosul on Monday.
Three bodies were found inside a taxi cab in Muqdadiyah.
In Baquba, gunmen took to the streets to protest Saddam Hussein’s death sentence verdict. A car bomb injured two police officers near the mayor’s office.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
