Updated at 9:30 p.m. EDT, July 11, 2008
The bodies of two American soldiers, who had been missing for over a year, were found south of Baghdad. At least 10 Iraqis were killed and another nine were wounded in other incidents on a relatively quiet prayer day. Meanwhile, a Sadrist Imam and 25 worshippers were arrested for speaking out against the government at a mosque in Diwaniya. Also, a U.S. army source reported that almost 21,000 Iraqis, including a few women and many juveniles, are being held in their jails in Iraq.
Two missing U.S. soldiers were found dead near Jurf al-Sakhar in the “triangle of death,” where they had been kidnapped in May of last year. The body of a third soldier, who was their companion, was found weeks ago in the Euphrates River. The D.O.D confirmed the deaths and added that a captured suspect led them to where they bodies had been buried.
In Diwaniya, a Sadrist Imam and 25 worshippers were arrested during Friday services for “excesses and insults against the government.” Followers of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr believe that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been targeting them unfairly because al-Sadr is a political rival.
A U.S. airdrop in Nasariya left a sixty-year-old dead and his two children wounded.
Police in Samarra were able to prevent a chlorine bombing. Four gunmen were killed in the incident. Although uncommon, chlorine gas attacks have added a new level of terror to car bombings. The gas, which is packed alongside explosives, sickens people who are not directly affected by the blasts.
In Iskandariya, two bodies were found.
The body of a policeman was found in Hilla.
Thirty suspects were captured in northern and central Iraq. One man was wounded during one of the captures.
Although weapons were seized in Wassit province, Georgian forces have decided that the security situation has stabilized enough to begin dismantling their checkpoint.
In Mosul, a bomb blast wounded six people. Gunmen shot a police officer dead as he was driving through a northern neighborhood. Two suspects were detained and several bombs were defused and/or confiscated.
A female body was found in Kut.
Two bombs were defused south of Amara.
Military troops are converging on Diyala province to rid the province of gunmen.
In Baghdad, gunmen attacked a checkpoing in Ghazaliyah; the number of casualties is unknown.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
