Updated at 9:35 p.m. EDT, Oct. 31, 2008
At least three Iraqi was killed and another 12 were wounded on a fairly quiet prayer day. The only casualties reported so far were in Mosul. No Coalition casualties were reported. Meanwhile, one al-Qaeda suspect killed in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan was reported to be an Iraqi national.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has requested details of a controversial U.S. raid on a Syrian border town; Syria has formally frozen ties with Iraq. Relations with Iran, however, are improving; Iran will hand over the bodies of Iraqi soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq war in exchange for Iranian bodies. Also, the drop in oil prices has forced lawmakers to rewrite next year’s budget.
Iraqi and U.S. forces raided the home of a Sadrist parliamentarian in Numaniya. No one was arrested but weapons were confiscated from her bodyguards.
In Mosul, three Iraqi soldiers and a woman were wounded during a roadside bombing. Two soldiers and and a civilian were wounded during a second bombing in the al-Quds neighborhood. Another roadside bomb wounded two people. Gunmen killed a farmer and wounded a policeman in separate events. Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded during a bombing yesterday. Also, a local migration official said that Christians were no longer fleeing Mosul and have been returning instead.
In Baghdad, two dumped bodies were found. Hundreds in Adhamiya, Rusafa and Karrada lost access to water when a water main was blown up; workers hope to have repairs completed today. Access to clean water is a problem in Iraq and has led to epidemics of cholera across the country. Iraqi forces captured a suspect believed to be a "financier" for the Islamic State in Iraq. Also, 300 people gathered in front of a Chaldean church to condemn attacks against Christians.
A bicycle bomb blew up in Madaen but left no casualties.
Ammunition was found in Missan province.
Iraqi forces arrested 220 suspects in an area in southern Anbar province near the Euphrates River and Babel province. Many of those arrested are believed to be Sunni Arabs, who belong to al-Qaeda. Two policemen were wounded during the operation, which went largely unopposed. Another 23 suspects were arrested across Iraq.
Also, an Iraqi parliamentarian accused the Saudis of mistreating Iraqi detainees there.
The council in Diyala province spent $2 million on security cameras.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
