Updated at 12:40 a.m. EDT, June 9, 2008
A suicide bomber killed a U.S. soldier and wounded 18 more Americans in northern Iraq. Anoother U.S. soldier was killed during a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad yesterday. At least 28 people were killed and 58 were injured across Iraq. Meanwhile, Turkey reported striking suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq.
In al-Rashad, a suicide car bomber attacked a U.S. base, killing one soldier and wounding 18 more. Two Iraqis were wounded as well when the bomber drove a bomb hidden under a pile of animal skins into blast walls protecting the base. Police added five civilians to the tally of wounded. A conflicting report said that more soldiers were killed.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Iran and reassured the Iranians that a proposed security deal with the U.S. will not turn Iraq into a launching pad for a U.S. attack on their neighbor. However, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Taqqi al-Mudaressi said that the agreement could start a popular uprising within Iraq itself.
In Baghdad, a explosion killed four police recruits and wounded 23 others at recruitment center in Mansour’s Nisoor Square, only a day after another blast left casualties there. Outside the Ministry of Defense in the Green Zone, a mortar explosion killed three people and wounded 10 more. One person was killed and five more were wounded during a blast outside the Turkish embassy in Waziriya. In New Baghdad, a bomb targeting a police patrol wounded two policemen and two civilians. A grenade injured two defense employees in Atifiya. U.S. forces arrested two people suspected of being Iranian-backed militants. Iraqi forces arrested 27 suspects. No casualties were reported after a bombing in Baladiyat. A body belonging to a policeman was found in Hurriya, while at least three others were found elsewhere.
In Mosul, gunmen killed three policemen and wounded five people, including civilians. Two women were injured when U.S. soldiers conducted a raid that netted six suspects. An al-Qaeda leader was detained as well.
Gunmen fired upon a marketplace in Khanaqin and killed five people.
Gunmen in Aziziya killed six shepherds and set fire to two vehicles.
A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded two others in Iskandariya.
In Baquba, gunmen killed an Awakening Council (Sahwa) member. Seven suspects were arrested in a separate event.
Gunmen killed an Iraqi soldier in Kut.
Ten rockets struck the British base in Basra but no casualties were reported.
Hit police detained 13 al-Qaeda suspects and confiscated 58 suicide vests.
A kidnapping gang was arrested in Diwaniya.
U.S. forces arrested four suspects in Fallujah. Meanwhile, 3000 displaced families returned home.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
