Updated at 1:25 a.m. EST, Jan. 26, 2007
At least 113 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 193 wounded during a series of bombings in the capital and other attacks throughout the country. One American soldier was killed and three more GIs were wounded in a roadside bomb attack northwest of the capital. Two British soldiers were injured during a mortar attack at their base in central Basra as well. Also, the city of Karbala is on high alert for expected sectarian violence in conjunction with a major Shi’ite religious observance.
In Baghdad, 45 dumped bodies were discovered throughout the city. At a marketplace in the Karrada district, a car bomber killed 26 people and wounded 100 others. Another car bomb was detonated at a Mureidi marketplace in Sadr City, killing one and wounding 13. At least four people were killed and 20 were wounded when a motorcycle bomb blew up at the al Shorja market. A double bomb attack in Bayaa killed five and wounded 13 people. Two were killed and eight were injured during a bomb attack on a minibus in Sadr City. Mortar rounds fell in the Green Zone, six wounded were reported. One civilian was killed and another four were injured by mortar rounds in the Ur neighborhood. A sniper wounded a security guard at the home of Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi. In the Yarmouk district, one Iraqi soldier was killed and three others were wounded in a clash with gunmen. Also, U.S. forces killed five gunmen and detained 30 others.
In Mosul, two gunshot bodies were discovered. In the Thawra district, a booby trapped car exploded; three people were killed and eight wounded in a pair of bomb attacks.
A suicide bomber targeted a U.S Patrol in Tal, Afar, but wounded four civilians instead.
An elderly woman and a boy were killed when a motorcycle blew up near a school in Fallujah. Also, U.S. forces discovered three injured men who had been held against their will and tortured.
Gunmen killed city council member Ali Hussein Abdel Aziz Ahmad in al Quiyara .
A man was killed and a girl injured during a mortar attack in Haswa. Outside of town, gunmen wounded two people.
Two bodies, bearing gunshot wounds to the head, were found in Dujail.
The morgue at Baquba received four bodies; gunmen had killed the four in Wajihiya. In downtown Baquba, two civilians were shot to death.
Four bodies were discovered at Muqdadiyah.
An assassination attemp on the assistant of Diyala police chief resulted in one dead guard and three more wounded. Two kidnap victims were rescued and their captors arrested.
Four civilians in Tal Afar were injured when a car bomb exploded.
The holy city of Karbala is on high alert for violence during the final days of the Ashura pilgrimage. The holiday, which ends on Jan. 27, marks the martyrdom of Iman Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Because it is one of the major distinctions between Sunnis and the Shi’ites who observe it, the pilgrimage has been a target of sectarian violence in the recent past.
Also, Palestinians living in Iraq are massing at the Syrian border in order to avoid violence in Baghdad. Syria has only allowed a few to enter the country. Yesterday, 30 Palestinian men were detained and then released in the capital.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
