Updated at 6:47 p.m. EDT, May 14, 2009
What appears to be a series of targeted assassinations continues in Baghdad with attacks on Sunni Endowment members and newspaper employees. Awakening Council (Sahwa) fighters also saw attacks on them elsewhere. Overall, at least eight Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded. One U.S. soldier was killed in combat today, and more background information on U.S. soldiers killed in a fragging incident on Monday was released.
A 2008 U.S. State Department report estimates that the number of Christians in Iraq has dropped to half of 1987 figures. Many Christians say the number is even lower. Late last year, gunmen targeted Christians in Mosul, causing many of them to flee the city, if not the country as well.
In Baghdad, gunmen killed a man and wounded another who worked for a newspaper. An attack in Talbiyah left a Sunni Endowment employee with injuries. A second Sunni Endowment employee was wounded in an attack in Adel. The body of a six-year-old child was found in Amin.
In Mosul, a bomb wounded four civilians. Gunmen shot a contractor in Shifaa.
One Sahwa fighter was killed and three more were injured during an attack on their checkpoint in Zab.
Gunmen stormed a home in Baquba. They killed two Sahwa fighters and their mother.
Gunmen attacked several stores in Tuz Khormato, where they killed one shop owner and injured a second one.
In Kirkuk, a bomb wounded two policemen.
A police officer was wounded in Kut. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the attack.
A Christian school teacher was abducted in Rashad.
Two suspects, who possessed weapons and explosives, were captured in Hayy. A bomb blasted a U.S. vehicle without leaving casualties.
A grenade caused damages to a home in Shatra.
A weapon’s cache was seized in Fallujah.
In Nasariya, a bomb was safely defused. Five drug dealers were arrested as well.
A bomb in Latifiya set a U.S. Hummer ablaze. No casualties were reported.
Ramadi police released 22 detainees after they proved their innocence.
In Karbala, 46 suspects were captured.
Twenty-three suspects were detained and a number of vehicles were confiscated in Basra. An ongoing “security operation” there has netted scores of suspects across the province, but the operation could at least in part be a harassment campaign between rival Shi’ite groups who vie for control of the region.
In Babel province, 850 recruits graduated from the police academy.
