Updated at 6:10 p.m. EDT, Sept. 22, 2008
At least 40 Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Half the dead were recovered from mass graves in Diyala province. Also, a U.S. soldier was killed during an armed attack yesterday in Baghdad. Meanwhile, a U.S. federal appeals court ordered pictures of prisoner abuse to be made public.
Three mass graves containing about 20 bodies were discovered in Diyala province. Many mass graves have been found there. Some date to recent sectarian cleansing while others date to the Saddam era. The details of these graves were unreported.
In Baghdad, three people were killed and five more were wounded during a bombing in Karrada. In Tobchi, shelling left one dead and four injured. Four civilians were wounded in Nafaq al-Shurta when a bomb planted in a car was detonated. Three bodies were found in as many neighborhoods. Also, a large amount of TNT was discovered.
U.S. forces killed one undercover policeman and wounded a second in Fallujah.
In Mosul, five children were killed and three were wounded when a roadside bomb was detonated. Two bodies were brought in to the morgue. Gunmen killed two Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint. A roadside bomb injured one civilian. Also, six suspects were detained.
A body bearing torture marks was recovered in Suwayra.
The Iraqi army killed two suspects and detained 81 others across Iraq.
Seven suicide cell suspects were netted in Balad Ruz.
In Karbala, demonstrators protested against the transfer of the provincial security chief to Diyala. The chief denied receiving official notification of the transfer.
Police in Kut captured a wanted man who had been sentenced to death in absentia for murder and other crimes. Ten suspected gang members were detained.
In Hafriya, 32 suspects were arrested.
In Basra, Iraqi army forces detained 11 suspects during searches for men connected to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. These raids follow a March “confrontation” between the Iraqi army and the Mahdi army in which followers of al-Sadr claimed they were being unfairly targeted. Fighting broke out across southern Iraq and into Baghdad. The violence ended when both sides agreed to an Iran-brokered truce.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
