Updated at 11:50 a.m. EST, Feb. 9, 2009
New attacks left at least 8 Iraqis killed and another 26 wounded. Baghdad suffered a series of roadside bomb attacks, but Ninewa and Diyala provinces also saw violence. A U.S. soldier died from non-combat incident as well. Meanwhile, the fate of several Guantánamo detainees release to Iraqi authorites is unknown. Alos, a trial date has been set for journalist shoe-tosser Muntazer al-Zaidi.
The family of a freed Guantánamo detainee is still awaiting his return to them. The detainee and three others were handed over to the Iraqi Justice Ministry, but they have since disappeared. The Ministry claims no knowledge of the detainees.
In Baghdad, two pilgrims were killed and 12 others were wounded during a roadside bombing in the Qahira neighborhood. In Nahdha, a roadside bomb wounded two people. A bomb attached to a vehicle wounded five more people in Mansour. Also, six mortars fell on an American base, but no casualties were reported.
Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and five were wounded when their patrol struck a roadside bomb in Muqdadiya.
A policeman was killed during an armed attack south of Sinjar in Nawfali. Gunmen also kidnapped a second policeman and his father.
Near Diwaniya, a eight-year-old girl died of injuries she received during an incident involving U.S. troops. The troops admitted accidentally firing upon Arbaeen pilgrims.
Gunmen killed a lawyer who had also been an election monitor in Khanaqin.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol but no casualties were reported. Security forces freed a hostage and arrested his kidnapper. Also, a roadside bomb wounded one person, and U.S. troops killed a man who threw a grenade. Another I.E.D. wounded an Iraqi soldier.
A council member in Asiriya survived a roadside bomb blast meant for him.
Twelve detainees were acquitted of all charges and released in Fallujah.
Two women were arrested for abducting a newborn in Kirkuk.
Over 30,000 security personnel, including snipers and intelligence agents, were deployed in Karbala for the culmination of the Arbaeen observance.
In 2008, over 128,000 detainees were released under a general amnesty law designed to reduce the number of detainees in Iraqi and U.S.-run jails. Currently, U.S. authorities are releasing 50 detainees per day.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
