Updated at 8:25 p.m. EDT, June 23, 2009
On an otherwise quiet day, Sadrist lawmakers demanded the defense ministry to explain how uniformed gunmen entered Sadr City last week and murdered four individuals. Across the country, only two Iraqis were reported killed. Sixteen Iraqis were also wounded.
Military authorities denied that army troops entered Sadr City last week and murdered four men. However, a group of uniformed men claiming to be army personnel did storm two homes. They arrested four men, whose bodies were discovered the following day. Shi’ite lawmakers belonging to the Sadrist bloc say that army troops are at least responsible for allowing disguised gunmen into the heavily guarded city.
In Baghdad, a bomb near the Amin Bridge damaged a U.S. vehicle, but no casualties were reported. A separate bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Shabb left no casualties. In Yarmouk, a previously unreported roadside bomb wounded two people yesterday.
A roadside bomb in Muqdadiyah, killed on Iraqi army general and wounded four other officers.
Four boys were injured when they came across an old landmine in Tikrit.
In Mosul, a high-ranking police officer was arrested for killing a wounded prisoner in his custody. A concussion bomb exploded but left no casualties.
In Fallujah, six people were wounded, including a physician, during a bombing yesterday. Twenty suspects were detained across town. Weapons and explosives were seized. Also, the U.S. military denies that Fallujah has been getting more violent over the last several months; locasl say otherwise.
Five suspects were arrested in Basra.
Diyala police are now battling a growing drug problem.
Three suspects and their explosives were seized in Kut.
In the Amara area, a hostage was liberated. Separately, explosives were found and confiscated.
In the Kurdish Autonomous Region, election campaigning has begun. The current government however was busy denouncing oil contracts due to be awarded to international companies by the central government. The oil minister defended his business strategies.
Two Turkish military lieutenants were charged with leaking classified information to the press. The documents contained information on the Kurdistan Workers Party. The rebel group has been fighting for an independent Kurdistan across parts of Turkey, Iraq and neighboring countries.
Also, 48 Iraqi pilgrims were robbed while traveling through Syria.
