Updated at 6:44 p.m. EST, Dec. 22, 2007
At least 14 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 22 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. Also, a pair of IEDs killed one MND-North soldier and wounded 11 more in Kirkuk. Meanwhile, U.S. troops left a base in Fallujah and arrested an wanted man from the Saddam regime in Hawija.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber attacked a Ghazaliya checkpoint, killing four people and wounding six more. A police officer was killed and two more were injured during security operations. In the Jamiya neighborhood, an Awakening Council member was gunned down as he was leaving a mosque. And, two unidentified bodies were recovered.
Also in the capital, U.S. forces arrested a man believed to be an al-Qaeda "technical advisor." Meanwhile, a joint U.S.-Iraqi team raided Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi’s Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) al-Karkh headquarters. No casualties were reported, but the troops ransacked the building.
Police and gunmen clashed in Daqquq. Two gunmen were killed and one more was wounded. Two policemen were also wounded during the battle. An arms cache was found in a separate incident.
A pair of roadside bombs in Sinjar killed one policeman and wounded two others.
Five civilians were wounded during a bombing outside a Madaen hospital.
Witnesses saw U.S. troops fire upon a vehicle in Amiriyat al-Fallujah. The driver was killed and his companion was wounded. Troops then searched the vehicle.
A body belonging to a security guard, who worked for the minister of state for national security, was found in Iskandariya. Also, a police commando was gunned down, but his assailants were arrested.
Three family members were injured as mortar shelling severely damaged their home in Khalis.
An assistant to a former vice-president from the Saddam regime was arrested in Hawija.
In Fallujah, U.S. troops abandoned their base and reopened the streets of the Dubbat neighborhood to traffic.
Also, Turkish planes again bombed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel locations in northern Iraq. No word on casualties.
Because of the combined Eid al-Adha and Christmas holidays, newspapers in Iraq have ceased publication until next Wednesday. News from the country may be scant until then.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
