Updated at 11:51 p.m. EDT, April 23, 2007
At least 107 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 161 Iraqis were wounded in violent attacks. Significant bombings took place in Baghdad, Mosul, Ramadi and Baquba. No foreign casualties were reported. At least 10 GIs and one British soldier were killed in separate attacks, including a bold suicide bombing in Diyala.
At least nine American soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in a suicide car bombing at a U.S. base in Diyala province. Immediately following the car bombing, gunfire kept the soldiers pinned down in an area where fuel containers were set ablaze by the blast. Also, one American soldier was blasted to death by a roadside bomb in Muqdadiyah. Meanwhile, one British soldier was shot to death, and in a separate event, six British soldiers were wounded during shelling, also in Basra.
Gunmen also opened fire on U.S. troops installing cement barricades in the Ur neighborhood in Baghdad. No casualties were reported, but the barricades have been a source of controversy over the last several days. Six men were arrested in a possibly related incident. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered construction of the security barriers stopped. In the Habibiya district, a roadside bomb targeted a U.S convoy. As the convoy withdrew, troops fired randomly on the area; 1 civilian was killed and 19 injured. Near Damascus Square, another U.S. convoy was attacked; one policeman was injured.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, a suicide bomber attacked a restaurant near the entrance to the heavily fortified Green Zone; eight people were killed and 14 wounded. A few minutes later, a nearby car bomb killed one person and injured four across the street from the Iranian embassy; the embassy was untouched, but many cars were damaged. Later, a bomb down the street injured two policemen. A roadside bomb in Jamaa injured one civilian. Gunmen in Saidiya randomly shot dead one person and wounded three others yesterday. On Sadoun Street, two policemen were injured in a clash with gunmen. Gunmen also burned a mosque in Baiyaa. Mortars fell on Jisr Diyala, killing one and injuring two others. Also, 15 dumped bodies were recovered.
Three coordinated car bombs in Ramadi killed 19 people and wounded 30 near a market and restaurant in a western neighborhood.
At a gathering of senior police officials in Baquba, a suicide car bomber killed 10 policemen and wounded 23 more; the chief of police was killed in the attack.
An office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party near Mosul was the target of a suicide car bomber; at least 10 were killed and 20 wounded.
Five men were seen planting explosives in Khalis; during an ensuing battle one was killed and four detained. The dead man was Al-Qaeda leader Jamal al-Ali.
During clashes that erupted in the Blour area, north of Muqdadiyah, three gunmen were killed, and the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq group was arrested.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a colonel from the traffic police. Also, a roadside bomb blasted a police patrol, killing one and injuring four others.
A roadside bomb near Mahaweel injured three civilians.
The bodies of three police officers who were kidnapped on Sunday were found in Shirqat.
In Iskandariya, gunmen attacked a police patrol, killing one and injuring a second officer; man and a girl were killed on Sunday.
The chief of police in Babel survived an assassination attempt.
A teacher and a student were wounded by a cluster bomb left over from a recent war.
Four people were injured when a booby-trapped car exploded in Hilla.
In Fallujah, gunmen killed two people who were related, and police found a body. A hummer was also damaged.
In Diyala, the civil defense headquarters were attacked and destroyed; four were killed and 25 injured. A member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was kidnapped.
In Maqal yesterday, gunmen killed three women and injured a fourth.
A policeman heading home to Garma was killed.
Three U.S. vehicles were destroyed in Kut, but no casualties were reported.
A U.S. hummer was damaged in an explosion in Haqlaniyah.
Gunmen fired upon a convoy transporting a Karbala council chairman and the deputy mayor; both men survived the assassination attempt.
The Iraqi army reported killing seven suspects in different locations throughout the country.
Also, the Yazidi religious group is asking the Iraqi government and international organizations for protection after yesterday’s massacre of 23 Yazidis in Mosul.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
