At least 19 Iraqis were killed and nine more were wounded in the latest attacks. The casualty figures include eight victims found in a mass grave. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered a probe into the purchase of ADE 651 bomb detectors from a British company.
Yesterday the United Kingdom banned the export of the ADE 651 bomb detector and arrested the company’s director. Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani however defended the $85 million purchase, saying that the devices had uncovered over 16,000 bombs since they were put to work in Iraq. Other Iraqi officials have not been so kind and suggested their purchase was the result of corruption. International defense experts have for months dismissed the devices as useless "divining rods" and now Prime Minister Maliki has ordered an investigation.
Eight bodies were recovered from a mass grave near Fallujah. The grave is several years old, but dates to the post-invasion period.
In Baghdad, a bomb in the Adhamiya district left one dead and three wounded.
In Mosul, four people were killed and two more were wounded during a blast in Tahrir. A sticky bomb planted on a taxi killed the driver. Two policemen were killed in bomb attack west of the city.
One policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a blast in Garma.
Photos of a young man being murdered were found along with his body in Kut.
In Shurqat, an off-duty army officer was killed in a sticky bomb attack.
A man was wounded in a drive-by shooting in Kirkuk.
Six suspects were captured in Jalawla.
Fifteen suspects were captured across Basra province and a number of weapons were confiscated.
Karbala police deployed 15,000 security personnel ahead of the Arbaeen pilgrimage. Another 10,000 service members could be deployed next week.
The Najaf provincial council is suing a local newspaper that alleged security forces in the province are torturing Ba’athists, including children and the elderly, as part of a program to rid the province of Sunnis.
Dr. Yaseen Kareem, of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, said that an estimated 276 mass graves across Iraq could contain 182,000 victims.
