Updated at 8:50 p.m. EST, Dec. 14, 2009
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 32 more were wounded in the latest violence. One small attack took place last week, but the delayed account highlights the difficulties in reporting casualties in the war-torn country. Meanwhile, female servicemembers who have returned home to the United States report having difficulties transitioning back into society. Also, Iran says it will try three American hikers who crossed into the country from Iraq, and new details arose from an investigation into the Bloody Tuesday bombings.
Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani told parliament that one of the alleged Bloody Tuesday bombers had made a phone call to Syria prior to the attack. Syria has denied any connection to any of the three major bombings in Baghdad during the second half of this year; however, Baghdad seems desperate to pin the blame on outside forces and Ba’athists. Seventy-two people, including 13 directly implicated in the attack, face trial. .
On Thursday, four Iraqis were killed during a home invasion in al-Manari. Among the dead was an Awakening Council (Sahwa) leader. The rest were family members. While the deaths highlight the difficult times the Sahwa are still facing, they also demonstrate the lack of timely and thorough casualty reporting coming out of Iraq now, particularly in small towns. As the war is winding down, many foreign reporters have left the country, leaving mostly local journalists, who are often harassed, incarcerated or outright killed by various elements including those in the government.
The People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) warned against the illegal transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to a remote prison in the desert. The transfer could violate international human rights treaties. Saddam Hussein welcomed the PMOI to Iraq, but the current government wants the group gone and has harassed them since the U.S. handed over control of the group to the Iraqis. The PMOI cannot return home out of fear of torture or execution, and no third country has offered asylum.
In Baghdad, a blast in the Yarmouk district wounded four people. Three people were wounded in a blast in central Baghdad. A bomb in Qahira left two wounded. No casualties were reported after an explosion in Raas al-Hawash. A bombing left three wounded in Karrada; later, a second bomb wounded one more. In the evening, a blast inside a Doura clinic wounded six people, including a doctor. One person was wounded when a bomb was detonated under a Sleikh bridge.
A roadside bomb wounded four people north of Baghdad in the Tarmiya suburb.
A policeman was killed and two more were wounded during a blast in Mandali.
In Khalis, gunmen killed two civilians.
Three Iraqis soldiers were wounded in Saidiya, when a roadside bomb blasted their patrol.
A bomb wounded two people in Muqdadiya. A car bomb was defused and its driver was arrested.
One policeman was killed during a raid in Fallujah.
In Mosul, a civilian was wounded as police detonated a found bomb. No casualties were reported after a roadside bomb blasted an army patrol. A weapons cache was found at a cemetery. Police cleared the son of a university professor of all wrongdoing. Another bomb was defused.
No casualties were reported after a bomb blasted a U.S. patrol in Jalawla.
Police in Wassit province arrested a gang of antiquities smugglers.
A suspected al-Qaeda was captured in Tal Afar.
Four suspects were detained in Diyala province.
Two men were arrested driving a car bomb near Najaf.
Gunmen robbed a bank in Kirkuk.
A man was arrested in Aziziya for alleged involvement in kidnapping his brother’s family for ransom.
