Updated at 11:35 a.m. EST, Mar. 31, 2007
At least 239 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 427 were wounded in violent incidents. Although attacks continued in Baghdad and Iskandariya, today’s violence focused on areas where al-Qaeda operatives are believed to be active. An American soldier and an American contractor were killed by a random rocket shot into the Green Zone; five others were wounded. Eight American soldiers were also wounded during an attack in Garma that left 15 gunmen dead.
Twin truck bombs killed at least 152 people and wounded 347 more in central Tal Afar, near the Syrian border. Gunmen tried to ambush ambulances ferrying the wounded to hospitals.
Outside Ramadi, a suicide truck bomber attacked a roadside restaurant where he killed 17 patrons and wounded 32 others. In Ramadi, a suicide bomber killed one person and injured seven others. Tribesmen in the area have allied themselves against al-Qaeda operatives.
Four people were killed during two explosions in Abu Ghraib suburb of Baghdad. One appeared to be a suicide bombing, while the other was a rocket-propelled grenade attack against the nephew of the outspoken leader of the Sunni Muslim Scholars’ Association. Harith al-Dari was killed and a companion was injured. Al-Dari was also the son of Sheikh Thahir al-Dari, who is the head of the same tribe to which Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie belongs. Al-Zubaie barely escaped an assassination attempt on his life last week. The tribe is known for being against al-Qaeda, and relatives of al-Dari blamed al-Qaeda. An unspecified number of attackers were also killed.
In Baghdad, 15 corpses were recovered from city streets. Four people were killed and 15 wounded during a mortar attack in Abu Dsheer. Mortars also fell in Kadhamiya where they injured four people. A policeman was killed and two more were wounded during a roadside bomb attack in southeastern Baghdad. An Iraqi soldier was killed and two more were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in Ghazaliya. In al-Maalif, a bomb injured four civilians. In Zayouna, gunmen killed a police lieutenant working in the serious crimes unit. A car bomber was shot and killed at an unspecified location before he could detonate his payload. Three security personnel were wounded during security operations. Also, a bomb exploded in Bob al-Moadam, resulting in no casualties.
U.S. forces raided the Kufa home of an aide to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Two civilians were killed and three wounded in possible crossfire during clashes that followed the raid.
Six bodies were found in Diwaniya.
Gunmen killed three people in Ishaqi.
Two government employees were killed in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, and a roadside bomb injured two guards working for the municipal council. A student was gunned down near the university.
British targets in Basra came under daily attack again, but no casualties were reported.
Two elderly Chaldean nuns, who were also sisters, were stabbed to death in their Kirkuk home; one was 79, the other 85-years-old. Two boys were injured by a roadside bomb near their school.
Four people were killled in Iskandariya when gunmen opened fire on a funeral procession. Shi’ites planted bombs in a Sunni mosque; about an hour after the bombs exploded clashes between militant groups left four Sunnis dead and one Shi’ite wounded.
A U.S. combat post was attacked west of Baghdad in Garma on Monday. Fifteen gunmen were killed and eight GIs were wounded.
Two Iraqi soldiers were injured during a U.S. air strike in al-Hwaider.
No casualties were reported in Baquba despite a suicide bomb attack and shelling.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
