Updated at 7:35 p.m. EDT, Aug. 10, 2009
About 72 Iraqis were killed and 356 more were wounded in a devastating day in Iraq. Once again, Ninewa province and Baghdad bore the brunt of the violence. No Coalition deaths were reported. Back in the U.S. though, the Spokane VA Center reported that they had underestimated the suicide rate among local vets. Also, an Iran exile group accused the Iraqi government of human rights violations and asked the Pentagaon to retake control of Camp Ashraf, where about 3,500 Iranian exiles reside.
A pair of blasts demolished a significant hunk of a Shabak village just outside of Mosul. According to a local council member, as many as 43 people were killed and 220 more were wounded in Khazna village. Two truck bombs spaced less than 500 yards apart left a sizeable crater and destroyed homes. The Shabak minority is just one of the various, small ethnic groups scattered across northern Iraq. Their villages have been the targets of other recent attacks. On Friday, a nearby Turkmen village was the scene of a deadly attack.
In Baghdad, seven people were killed and 47 were wounded in Amil when a bomb exploded just as a group of day laborers were enjoying their morning tea. Just ten minutes later, a bomb blast targeting construction workers in Shurta al-Rabeea left 10 dead and 35 wounded. A second bombing, this one at 8:00 p.m., killed two people and wounded 18 others near a restaurant.
Later in the day, two people were killed and 14 were wounded when a bomb blew up outside a mosque in Baghdad’s Saidiya neighborhood. One Iraqi was killed and three more were wounded when a minibus exploded in Shula. Eight were wounded in one of two blasts in Karrada; yesterday, gunmen killed two people in the same neighborhood. One of two bombs wounded four in Adhamiya. A roadside bomb in Ghadeer wounded two policemen. An evening bombing left three wounded.
Two children were killed in a roadside bombing north of Tikrit.
In Mosul, gunmen killed one policeman and another off-duty policeman in separate incidents. A 19-year-old woman was killed and a companion was wounded during a home invasion.
A sticky bomb wounded a man in Hilla.
Men dress in military uniforms kidnapped a civilian in Kirkuk.
Seven suspects were arrested in Basra.
MNF forces captured three al-Qaeda suspects in Jalawla.
