Updated at 7:30 p.m. EST, March 4, 2009
At least 16 Iraqis were killed and 40 were wounded in the latest attacks. No Coalitino deaths were reported. Also, the Turkish foreign minister hinted that Ankara would allow Washington to use Turkish territory for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber attacked a police patrol in the Karrada neighborhood, where three people were killed and 10 more were wounded. A bomb in Saidiya wounded three people. A second bombing in in Karrada apparently wounded six people. Also, 10 suspects were captured.
In Mosul, security forces continued their latest offensive against al-Qaeda elements, but that did not stop a suicide car bomber from taking the lives of two policemen and wounding another 21 at a checkpoint today. Another bomb left no casualties. Gunmen killed a civilian. A sniper killed an Iraqi soldier. Police freed a 17-year-old girl who had been kidnapped two days ago. Also, another hostage was liberated and two gunmen were captured.
Gunmen killed a sheikh, his wife and two sons near Samarra. The sheikh and one son were Awakening Council (Sahwa) members. Another report listed the dead as the sheikh’s daughter-in-law and grandson.
Police found a body belonging to one of four oil employees who were kidnapped a week ago near Kirkuk. Two of the other kidnap victims were released. The dead man’s father is the editor of a newspaper.
In Kirkuk itself, gunmen killed a lawyer.
Three suspects were captured near Nasariya.
Three suspects were detained east of Baquba in Mansour.
A number of rockets were seized south of Amara, and 400 mortars were found in the city.
A police officer was found dead, of an apparent suicide, in Kut.
U.S. forces handed over 32 detainees to Iraqi authorities, who subsequently released them. Another 31 detainees were freed by U.S. forces, who captured them last year in Hamdaniya. Iraqi forces released 159 detainees from Mosul’s jails as well.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
