Updated at 5:23 p.m. EDT, June 2, 2009
A relative quiet day in Iraq hid the grim reality that 5,000 U.S. servicemembers have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The 5,000th death may have been one of two U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq. Four Iraqis were wounded in a pair of minor bombings in Mosul and Mussayab.
In other news., an Iraqi man was given a life sentence for the murder of high-profile, British kidnap victim Margaret Hassan. Meanwhile, a Kurdish party has been barred from next month’s elections for it’s alleged ties to Kurdish rebels; the party said it was a political move. Also, Kuwaiti politicians demanded the recall of their diplomat to Iraq over Iraqi calls to halt reparation payments for the 1990 invasion of the neighboring country.
A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier today in Baghdad. Two attacks on U.S. patrols were reported today in the capital. The attack resulting in the servicemember death could be one of those or a third attack. Also, a U.S. soldier died Saturday in a vehicular accident.
In Mosul, two construction workers were injured in a bomb blast.
Two people were wounded in Mussayab when a bomb was detonated outside a barber shop.
A bomb targeting a judge in Balad Ruz left no casualties but did damage a car and home.
Sixteen suspects were detained in Basra, where an ongoing security campaign is likely masking the internecine feuds between rival Shi’ite groups.
Fifteen suspects were arrested in Karbala.
Two Iraqi journalists were “mistakenly” arrested during a Sadr City raid.
Seven gunmen were captured in Abu Ghraib.
Three separate weapons caches were found in Dhi Qar.
