Updated at 6:50 p.m. EDT, Sept. 3, 2008
At least 15 Iraqis were killed and another 28 were wounded in the latest violence. In one incident, the U.S military fired back on Iraqi security personnel who did not know they were allied forces. An unknown number of policemen were injured during an incident in Tikrit as well. No Coalition deaths were reported. Also, an ongoing dispute over control of security in Khanaqin was resolved peacefully.
U.S. forces killed six Iraqi security personnel and wounded 10 others in a case of mistaken identity near Tarmiya. A U.S. patrol boat was traveling with its lights off, so the Iraqis could not tell it carried U.S. troops. The Iraqis fired warning shots into the air as it passed their checkpoint. Later, a U.S. helicopter flew in and targeted a house near the site of the incident with gunfire. No American casualties were reported.
A security dispute in Khanaqin was resolved after Arab and Kurdish politicians agreed to withdraw both Iraqi and Peshmerga troops from the city. Khanaqin police will now control security within city limits. The Peshmerga will withdraw to Kurdistan, while Iraqi troops will patrol surrounding areas. Khanaqin is an ethnically mixed area south of Kurdistan in Diyala province.
A freelance photojournalist working for Reuters was detained by U.S. forces in Mahmudiya. U.S. military authorities assert that they may hold anyone they believe to threaten security, and several journalists have been held indefinitely without charges using that rationale.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Waziriya wounded two civilians instead. One body was found. Security forces detained 40 suspects and defused 16 bombs. Reporters Without Borders said that a Kurdish journalist was wounded during a previously unreported home invasion last week. His sister was killed, while his niece and mother were wounded.
In other news, almost 500 displaced families have returned home to the capital over the last two months. Also, about 100 citizens protested abuse from Iraqi troops toward the local Awakening Council (Sahwa) members; the U.S. will transfer control of the Sahwa contracts to Iraq next month.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb wounded two Iraqi soldiers. Two gunmen were killed and a third one was wounded when the bomb they were placing detonated prematurely. Gunmen killed a policeman during a clash at a checkpoint. Also, gunmen detonated bombs in two homes belonging to government officials, but no casualties were reported.
A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded seven in Iskandariya. A second bomb demolished a house, but left no casualties. Also, a roadside bomb planted on a railroad line was found and defused, but there is no word on when rail traffic will resume.
One Iraqi soldier was killed and three other were wounded during a bombing in Balad Ruz.
A bomb in Muqdadiyah killed one civilian.
U.S. forces in Tikrit killed a suspected “weapons facilitator,” who was dressed in women’s clothing and hiding in a house. Police said the man was a student. Eight other suspects were detained. Separately, several policemen were injured during a bombing.
Seven suspects were arrested in Basra.
The U.S. admitted 2,183 Iraqi refugees during August.
A notorious prison in Abu Ghraib will be renovated into a museum focusing on crimes committed during the Saddam regime.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
