Updated at 11:15 p.m. EDT, Apr. 30, 2009
At least 73 Iraqis were killed and 116 more were wounded in violent attacks. Sadr City and Baghdad suffered the lion’s share of casualties, but as is the norm after such dramatic bombings, reports flooded in from other parts of Iraq. No Coalition deaths were reported, but a U.S. soldier was wounded in Kirkuk when gunmen attack a patrol handing out grants.
A pair of car bombs at a busy marketplace in Sadr City left 51 dead and 76 wounded. Afterwards residents of the Baghdad suburb throw stones and other items at Iraqi soldiers, blaming the soldiers for failing to protect them. Over two million people live in this mostly Shi’ite district. A third blast was also reported.
U.S. soldiers killed two Iraqis who allegedly attacked the soldiers as they were handing out grants to Kirkuk businesses. Two citizens were also reported killed, while a U.S. soldier, a gunman, and a civilian were reported wounded.
In Baghdad, five people were killed and eight were wounded during a bombing Doura. In Hurriyah, two people were killed and eight others were wounded during a separate bombing . Five soldiers were wounded during a blast in Shurta/Risala. Police defused three bombs across southern neighborhoods. Iraqi soldiers clashed with guards at the Trade Ministry after they arrived to arrest a ministry employee; no casualties were reported. Roadside bombs targeting U.S. patrols in Shabb and Khadraa left no casualties.
In Mosul, a beheaded girl was discovered. Gunmen killed a police officer at his home. Three policemen were injured during a bomb blast in Qahira. One policeman was killed and five others were wounded in two blasts in southern Mosul. In New Mosul, a bomb injured two more. A man spotted planting a bomb was arrested. An MNF spokesman denied that U.S. gunfire injured a woman on Monday and claimed, “U.S. forces do not open fire randomly.” Also, one suspect was arrested.
Five people were killed and five more were wounded in a blast just outside of Baghdad in the town of Hor Rijab.
A pair of bombs in Himreem killed three Iraqi soldiers and wounded two others.
A hostage was freed in Nasiriya and the kidnappers were abducted.
In al-Lateef, a large explosives cache was found.
A police officer was killed in Kut in what seems to be a family dispute.
A former deputy governor of Karbala was arrested on terrorism charges.
Six al-Naqshabandiya members were detained in villages around Hawija.
The Basra province commander said that 1,600 arrest warrants were served during operations over the last two months. However, there is a question as to how many of the 1,920 warrants issued were for actual crimes or merely as harassment of political rivals.
Fifty Jund al-Samaa or Soldiers of Heaven members were cleared of all wrongdoing and freed in Dhi Qar. The group was an apocalyptic cult, but their leader was killed during clashes last year.
