Updated at 11:05 p.m EST, Feb. 14, 2007
The U.S. military is now reporting that last week’s deadly helicopter crash was caused by hostile fire. Meanwhile, six more American soldiers were killed in separate incidents, and video of a missing GI has surfaced. Also, at least 135 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 90 more were wounded.
The U.S. military reported that four GIs were killed during combat operations in Diyala Province. Also, one American soldier was killed by small arms fire, and another GI died from a non-combat related incident, both north of the capital. South of the capital in the Arab Jubour area, the U.S. military killed 15 militants during an air strike. And, Iraqi police are accusing a U.S. patrol of a random drive-by shooting where a man was killed and a woman injured.
In other news, the cause of a helicopter crash that killed seven servicemembers last week has been determined to be hostile fire. The military originally believed mechanical failure brought the helicopter down. Also, an Iraqi militant group has released a video of an American soldier who has been missing since October.
After striking a roadside bomb near Zubair, a British military convoy randomly opened fired and killed a university student.
Police reported that 47 militants were killed and 39 arrested during military operations in Diyala province.
In Baghdad, a car bomb killed five people and wounded 11 near a pediatric hospital in the Camp Sara area. In al-Sulaikh district, a roadside bomb killed a man and wounded three others. At a market in the Bayaa area, a car bomb killed two people and wounded seven. In the Yarmouk district, a roadside bomb killed one person while clashes that wounded three Iraqi soldiers erupted nearby. In the Rashdiya suburb, mortar rounds killed one person and wounded 16 others. Mortars also fell near a mosque in the al-Mamil section; two people were injured. Three people were injured when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the Mansour district. Also, five bodies were found scattered around town.
In the Khalis area, 22 bodies were found.
In Ramadi, eight people were killed and twenty were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle at a police station; the head of police station was killed in the blast.
A car bomb in Mosul killed five people and wounded 20 others; women were among the casualties.
Gunmen killed four policemen and injured several bystanders in central Fallujah.
A nighttime curfew has been imposed in Samawa following the death a of Sadrist leader yesterday. Two policemen were also killed.
One Iraqi was killed when a roadside bomb targeting a British patrol blasted him instead.
A former police captain was gunned down in front of him home in Diwaniya.
Gunmen killed six men in Baquba. The Iraqi Army killed four gunmen in a separate incident.
Two booby-trapped cars in Hawija killed two policemen and an Iraqi soldier. Six others were wounded. The bombing took place amidst clashes between Iraqi security and gunmen.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
