Updated at 6:52 p.m. EST, Nov. 10. 2008
A complex bomb attack in Baghdad left scores dead or injured in the capital and almost overshadowed violence elsewhere. At least 45 Iraqis were killed and 101 more were wounded across the country. Another vicious attack occurred in Baquba where a 13-year-old girl undertook a suicide bombing against a group of formerly U.S.-backed security personnel. No Coalition deaths were reported.
Details of a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact were leaked to the Associated Press; the latest draft was given to the Iraqis last week and awaits their approval. Also, Latvia formally ended their role in Iraq during a ceremony on Saturday.
Awakening Council (Sahwa) members today received their first paychecks issued by the Iraqi government. The U.S. government had paid their salaries until October, when authority over the group was handed over to the Iraqi government. The members are Sunni Arabs who were aligned with al-Qaeda against the U.S. invasion, but traded loyalties last year after growing tired of continued al-Qaeda attacks against Sunni civilians. The Sahwa program is heavily credited, along with the Sadr ceasefire and the surge in U.S. troops, with reducing violence dramatically.
In Baghdad, at least one car bomb drew victims to as many as two suicide bombers near a fine arts school in the Kasra neighborhood, which is a Shi’ite enclave within the Sunni Adhamiyah neighborhood; at least 31 were killed and 71 Iraqis were wounded during the combined explosions. Three people were wounded near Square 52 when a bomb blew up. One dumped body was discovered. Coalition forces detained 11 suspects. Also, a weapon’s cache was discovered in Mansour.
A 13-year-old girl blew herself up in a group of Awakening Council (Sahwa) members in Baquba. She killed seven members and wounded as many as 18 other people.
In Mosul, four people were wounded during multiple bomb blasts in the south. Gunmen wounded a policeman in Mosul al-Jadida. Also, an Islamic State in Iraq member was wounded during capture. Four other suspects were detained separately.
Two police commandos were killed and four more were wounded in a roadside bomb blast near Samarra.
Gunmen killed the owner of a check-cashing office in Hilla.
Three bombs were defused in Amara.
Two bombs were safely detonated in controlled explosions in Riyadh.
A Salah ad Din province council member and his son were sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering the governor.
The mayor of Talkeef personally distributed over $68,000 to displaced Christian families. The town, just north of Mosul, is heavily Christian. Many Christians fled there from Mosul last month, when violence targeting them increased.
Suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bases in Dahuk were targeted by Turkish artillery.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
