Updated at 11:02 p.m EDT, July 9, 2007
In a significant development, tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers are believed to be at the Iraqi border waiting for permission to enter Iraq on a security mission. Violence elsewhere has been elevated since late Friday and continues elevated into today. At least 94 Iraqis have been killed and 95 wounded in the latest attacks, which come after one of the bloodiest weekenda since the U.S invasion. No foreign casualties were reported.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari reported that Turkey has amassed up to 140,000 troops at the border. The troops want to enter Iraq in order to eliminate about 4,000 Kurdish rebels who allegedly are crossing the border into Turkey and attacking both military and civilian targets.
In Baghdad, two roadside bombs at a city center bus station killed five and wounded 24 others. A car bomb in the al-Harthiya neighborhood killed one person and wounded three others. In Karrada, a roadside bomb killed a civilian and wounded seven more. Militants strangled to death four members of one family they had kidnapped from Ghazaliya. Gunmen stormed a home in Jamiya, killing one person and wounding two others. One Iraqi security officer was killed and eight were wounded during security missions that netted 44 suspects. Three policemen were killed and another was injured during an attack on their patrol in the al-Qahira neighborhood. Witnesses claim that U.S. forces randomly fired upon a group of pedestrians crossing a southern bridge; three people were killed and one waswounded. An Iraqi soldier was killed and four others were wounded by a suicide bomber in Doura. A body of a traffic director was found. Also, 26 dumped bodies were found scattered throughout Baghdad.
Twelve bodies were discovered in Mada’en. They belong to Sunni workers abducted yesterday from a Pepsi Cola bottling plant.
A roadside bomb killed nine Iraqi soldiers and wounded 20 others in Balad.
The director of Najaf‘s Center for Human Rights and Support of Democracy survived an assassination attempt on his life; his driver was killed and two bodyguards were wounded.
A Muqdadiyah judge was assassinated. Fifteen gunmen were killed and eight were arrested during a security crackdown. Two children were wounded in a mortar attack. Also, militants attacked the mayor’s office and wounded five policemen.
Eight gunmen were arrested in Kirkuk. Two members of a Kurdish security service were wounded during a roadside bomb attack.
Near the Syrian border at Rudainah village, clashes left one gunmen dead, two policemen wounded, and two suspects arrested.
Two policemen were wounded when gunmen attacked the Wajihiya police station.
In Sa’diya, the bodies of two facilities protection members were found, and two civilians were wounded in a separate incident.
An unspecified number of people were killed or wounded during a suicide car bombing during a funeral in Zarghosh village. Other attacks occurred as well. The village had suffered an major attack a couple days ago.
The Kurdish Asayish intelligence commander in Khaneqeen survived an assassination attempt.
Two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded during a U.S. air strike in Mosul. Also, gunmen killed a health directorate employee.
In Garma, the homes of new police recruits were attacked. The occupants were chased out and the homes then demolished.
Three people were killed during a British air strike in Mijan al-Kabir.
At least three people were wounded during several roadside bombings in Nasariyah.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
