Updated at 5:55 p.m EST, Dec. 5, 2008
Violence tapered off dramatically for the prayer day. At least eight Iraqis were killed and another nine more were wounded. Several migrant workers were possible injured during eviction from a warehouse where they were being housed. Meanwhile, Gen. Ray Odierno told U.S. troops to expect new rules of engagement with the passage of the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement. Also, Iraq’s Oil Ministry reassured foreign oil companies that Iraq is now safe enough for investment.
An unknown amount of men may have been injured by Iraqi security forces as they were being evicted from a Baghdad warehouse in preparation for deportation. The migrant workers had paid thousands to a subcontractor working with KBR, Inc. to bring them to Iraq and find them work. Instead, the men had been housed for months in the warehouse. Earlier this week they held demonstrations protesting their situation. Today, security forces allegedly used tear gas and smoke grenades during a raid. Several Ugandan men claimed that police handcuffed them and beat them.
Also in Baghdad, a bomb killed a policeman and an Awakening Council member in Doura; another policeman and councilmember were also injured. Yesterday, a sticky bomb killed a Labor Ministry inspector and wounded two civilians. Also, Iraqi security forces re-arrested a man believed to belong to Ansar al-Sunna and who just released from U.S. detention.
A bomb hidden inside a tape recorder killed three teenage girls and wounded two others in Balad Ruz. Two of the dead girls were sisters and the third was their sister-in-law. Two more sisters were wounded, one of them was only seven years old. Their Shi’ite family had just returned home to a Sunni neighborhood after having fled the area during sectarian violence. Other workers were from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb killed a policeman and wounded three civilians yesterday, while another policeman was shot dead in northern Mosul.
A wanted man was captured in Suwayra.
Police in Dhi Qar made security preparations for the upcoming Eid al-Adha religious observance.
Iran shelled part of the Jarawa district, injuring a shepherd. Iran occasionally bombards parts of northern Iraq during campaigns against Kurdish rebels, who stage attacks on Iranian territory from there. This is the sixth day of shelling.
Plans for the use of child suicide bombers were found during a raid in Diyala province.
Meanwhile, a U.S. drug war tactic may serve prosecutors working on a shooting incident in Baghdad. In that incident, Blackwater Worldwide guards, contracted by the U.S. military, killed 17 civilians and then alleged they had been attacked by insurgents. A law used in drug cases back in the U.S. gives lengthy sentences to those found guilty of using a machine gun during crimes.
Both the U.S. military and human rights groups are worried over the fate of thousands in U.S. detention. The recently approved U.S-Iraqi security agreement forces the U.S. military to hand over detainees held without charges to the Iraqis, who may in turn release or prosecute them. U.S. authorities are worried that the detainees could return to militant activity, while human rights groups the exchange will open the detainees to torture or death.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
