Updated at 12:10 p.m. EDT. May 17, 2009
A spate of new attacks has left at least 22 Iraqis dead and another 31 wounded. More mass graves containing hundreds of bodies were discovered in Najaf province. Also, a security guard working for a group of Japanese businesspeople was injured during a shooting in Anbar province. Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed today in southern Iraq, possibly Najaf. There are also reports from Mosul that a U.S. helicopter has been shot down.
Three mass graves possibly containing the bodies of hundreds of Kurdish victims were discovered in Qadissiya. Another grave containing scores of bodies was discovered on Thursday in Diwaniya. If the bodies turn out to belong to Kurds, they were likely killed before 1992 during one of Saddam Hussein’s campaigns against them.
Three suspects were detained during a raid in Tal al-Hawa. The capture was part of an operation meant to stop arms trafficking into Iraq by a cell who leaders is Syria-based Abu Khalaf. The U.S. Treasury department froze Khalaf’s assets as well.
In the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib, ten Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 others were wounded when they entered a booby-trapped building. Two patrolmen were killed and seven others were wounded during a separate bombing. The city has seen a significant uptick in violence this year.
In Baghdad, two policemen were killed and five others were wounded in the Mashtal neighborhood. In Jihad, a bomb wounded three people. Also, an al-Qaeda suspect was captured.
Mortars killed a toddler and wounded three others in Sadr City. The child’s mother and two siblings were among the injured. The shells were likely targeting a nearby U.S. base.
In Mosul, two civilians were killed during a small arms attack in al-Masaraf district. An unidentified body was found in the Shurta neighborhood. A weapons cache was found as well
A bomb blast in Qayara killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded two others.
U.S. troops killed a bystander and wounded a second in Jalawla, when they fired warning shots at an approaching car.
U.S. troops shot and killed a farmer near Hilla. The farmer did not heed warning shots.
In Basra, a Civil Defense servicemember was killed when a grenade he was relocating exploded. Eight wanted suspects were captured, while explosives and vehicles were confiscated.
A security guard of unknown nationality was injured when a group of Japanese businesspeople came under sniper fire in Anbar province.
Twenty were al-Naqshabandiya members were detained in Balad Ruz.
Two al-Naqshabandiya members were captured in Aqarat village near Makhmour.
