Updated at 12:47 a.m EDT, April 17, 2007
At least 69 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 39 more Iraqis were injured in violent attacks today. Six American soldiers were also reported killed in separate events in Iraq. It was also a politically interesting day with protests coming from both followers of Moqtada al-Sadr and the residents of Basra.
Three GIs were reported killed today: An explosively formed projectile killed the first soldier in a southern Baghdad neighborhood. Another soldier died in a roadside bomb attack, again in southern Baghdad. In southwestern Baghdad, a third American was killed when a combat patrol was attacked with small arms fire. Two American soldiers were killed on Saturday in Fallujah. Also, another soldier died in a non-hostile accident in Fallujah on Saturday.
Ministers loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr were ordered by the Shi’ite cleric to quit the alliance government in protest over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s refusal to set a U.S. troop withdrawal timetable. Meanwhile, several thousand Basra residents marched on the governor’s office, calling for his resignation. The citizens had already been complaining about inadequate services in the area.
In Baghdad, 11 unidentified bodies were found scattered throughout the city. A mortar round fell on a mostly Shi’ite neighborhood in the north, wounding four people. No people were wounded during a mortar attack in Adhamiyah. A roadside bomb injured no one in Zayouna. An interpreter was wounded during an attack that also killed a U.S. soldier. A mortar fell on Za’afaraniya where it injured two people. A sniper killed a female student in Um Al Ma’alif; later in the same neighborhood, a mortar killed one and injured three others. Two people were shot to death in al-Amil. Gunmen wounded a civilian in the al-Jahid neighborhood. Also, mortars killed no one when they landed at Baghdad University.
During a raid in Ramadi, U.S. troops came under attack. As they returned fire, three people were killed. The dead were later identified as policemen. It is not unusual for Iraqi policemen to also belong to anti-U.S. militias, so the killing may or may not have been friendly fire. In a possible second incident of friendly fire, U.S. troops killed a man who witnesses claimed to be airport security; the incident took place during a raid in Baghdad.
At a village near Mosul, gunmen attacked an army checkpoint where they killed 13 soldiers and wounded four more.
Mortars killed three and wounded 18 in Mahmudiya.
In Mosul, gunmen killed the dean of the Political Science College and a faculty member from the College of Art at Mosul University. A senior member of the former Ba’ath Party and a policemen’s 17-year-old son were also killed. Police found six dumped bodies, including one belonging to a policeman.
Seven dumped bodies were discovered in Fallujah, and gunmen launched mortar shells at a U.S. base.
Two civilians were killed and three policemen injured during a suicide bomb attack in Ishaqi. Gunmen kidnapped five people from their cars.
Gunmen killed one person and kidnapped nine workers traveling to Himreem.
The body of a policeman who was abducted last week was found strangled in Najaf.
Gunmen killed a Sunni imam and injured his son in Hawija. Three unidentified bodies were discovered on a highway.
Near Baiji, gunmen killed a tribal leader and wounded his son.
In Kirkuk, a policeman was wounded while defusing a bomb. A second device damaged a police vehicle.
The Iraqi army reported killing seven militants and arresting 83 suspects throughout the country.
U.S. forces arrested two men setting up a fake checkpoint in Kut. A bomb exploded near a house but no casualties were reported.
Twelve people were arrested trying to enter Turkey illegally.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
