Updated at 10:32 p.m. EST, Dec. 11, 2008
Near Kirkuk, at least 58 Iraqis were killed and another 120 were wounded in the last hours of Eid observances. Although reporters have been observing the Eid, this blast was too significant to ignore. No other deaths Iraqi and otherwise were reported. Meanwhile, Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman for the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said that Iraq could require the presence of U.S. troops for another 10 years. Also, a U.S. general noted that the use of EFPs are down and suggested that that a shift in strategy among Iranian leaders is behind it.
At least 57 people were killed and 120 others were wounded during a suicide bombing at a bustling restaurant just north of Kirkuk. Patriotic Union of Kurdistan officials and Arab tribe leaders were there to discuss ethnic tensions in the region that have postponed provincial elections. The restaurant was also crowded with families celebrating the end of Eid observances. Kirkuk lies just outside the Kurdish Autonomous Region and many local Kurds would like the area to become part of it, but there are also Arabs, Turkomen and other minorities which must be catered to as well. This is the deadliest bombing in Iraq since June.
In Baghdad, Baghdad Operation Command (BOC) arrested 10 men during operations in which they defused four bombs and seized ammunition; yesterday, the BOC claimed that no incidents had occurred in Baghdad during the Eid.
Five bombs were detonated in central Mosul, but no casualties were reported. Gunmen killed a 17-year-old civilian. Also, police commandos detained three men.
A bomb was detonated inside a Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) building under construction in al-Hod, just south of Mosul. No casualties were reported.
No casualties were reported after a bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Amiriya was detonated.
Iraqi army forces detained a man in Tal Afar.
U.S. forces captured six al-Qaeda suspects across in Iraq, during raids in Tarmiyah, Ramadi, Mosul and Baghdad.
Four suspects were detained in Jalawla in connection with yesterday’s bombing.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
