Updated at 8:59 p.m. EDT, Apr. 13, 2008
Only three Iraqis were killed and five more were wounded in light violence today. A U.S. soldier was also killed during an incident near Karbala. In other news, the Islamic State in Iraq has claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing in Mosul that took the lives of five U.S. soldiers.
The Iraqi military has sued to shut down a newspaper and a television station for reporting allegedly false information, and the government’s media office has complained that some media outlets have launched a “coordinated campaign against the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has been criticized in the past for imposing restrictions on the media.
In Mosul, hundreds of Kurdish residents demonstrated for the annexation of the province into the Kurdish Autonomous Region. Gunmen killed the mayor of the al-Qadissiya al-Thaniya neighborhood.
Gunmen killed a Turkman in Kirkuk.
Police found the body of a kidnapped officer in the Tharthar desert
In Baghdad, gunmen threw a grenade at a liquor shop in Karrada; four shoppers were wounded.
Gunmen wounded a civilian in Kut.
In Basra province, 23 suspects were detained.
Twenty-seven suspects were arrested in Dhi Qar.
Seventeen suspects were detained across Karbala province.
Also, Turkey continued operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in the southeastern part of that country. The PKK wishes to create an independent Kurdistan in parts of Turkey, Iraq and three neighboring countries. The group often launches attack on Turkey from Iraqi territory and Turkey often conducts operations into Iraq. With the arrival of spring, the number of attacks will likely increase.