Updated at 8:20 p.m. EDT, May 23, 2009
At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in light attacks. One U.S. soldier was killed in a non-combat incident in Baghdad province as well. Also, two American contractors were killed in separate attacks in the Green Zone. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed Sunni ex-detainees for the recent increase in violence and is now rejecting an amnesty law that has allowed thousands of innocent Iraqis to leave jail.
Prime Minister Maliki now wishes to amend an amnesty law that he helped to enact last year. The law, which allowed detainees accused of lesser crimes to leave jail cells, was hailed as a major breakthrough in Shi’ite-Sunni relations. He now claims that too many Sunni terrorists were released. This turnabout, however, comes soon after Maliki called for eliminating power-sharing pacts between Sunnis, Kurds and the majority Shi’ite government which Maliki leads, and just days after the central government tried to reassure Sunnis they are not being targeted for harassment.
In Baghdad’s international Green Zone, two Americans were killed. The first was found dead in a car Friday morning, an apparent victim of a “crime of passion.” The second died later during a rocket attack. The high-security zone suffered a mortar attack this morning, but no casualties were reported.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb in al-Sussi killed four policemen and wounded three others last night. Also last night, gunmen killed a policeman and wounded a second one in al-Haramat. In the southern part of the city today, a bombing wounded one policeman. Three policemen were wounded when another bomb blew up in the city’s center. the body of a dentist was discovered. Four bombs were defused as well.
Gunmen killed two people and wounded three more during a small arms attack in Jalawla.
Despite an intense security operation in Diyala province, the six-year-old son of an Awakening Council leader was kidnapped two days ago. His body was found today in Abbara Buhriz.
Two men were killed as they were planting a bomb near Baquba.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol traveling through the Husseiniya wounded one soldier.
Two bodies were found in Ishaqi.
A number of weapons and rockets were seized across Diyala province.
Five suspects were detained in Balad Ruz.
No casualties were reported during a bomb attack targeting a police official in Garma.
U.S. forces arrested three suspects and the 71-year-old father of a fourth wanted man. The arrests came during a raid in Duluiya.
Two rockets fell near the archaeological site of Ur, where U.S. forces held a base until recently. No casualties were reported.
Fifty-one suspects were detained and a number of vehicles were confiscated in Basra.
