Updated at 6:26 p.m. EDT, Sept. 8, 2010
As the Eid al-Fitr holiday draws near, small attacks are on the upswing. At least 16 Iraqis were killed and 67 more were wounded in the latest violence. Also, the first group of American soldiers deployed under Operation New Dawn has arrived in Iraq.
In Baghdad, three people were killed and about 24 were wounded when a booby-trapped vehicle and a second bomb exploded in Bayaa. One person was killed and five others were wounded during blasts in Nadha. In Adil, two people were wounded by another explosion. Bombs in Adhamiya and Taji left no casualties. A motorcycle ban is in force. Also, the brother of an Independent High Electoral Commission member was arrested along with four Iraqis and two Australians on charges of helping facilitate the entry of armed groups into the Green Zone.
A suicide bomber attacked an army checkpoint just north of Baghdad in Tarmiyah, where he killed three soldiers and wounded 12 others.
In Mosul, three people were wounded, including one civilian, during a grenade attack at a police checkpoint. Three people were wounded in a mortar attack. Gunmen killed a TV reporter in Karama.
A pair of bombs exploded near Kirkuk in al-Zab, killing four people and wounding 10 others.
An attack targeting a U.S. patrol in Tikrit left one Iraqi dead and three more injured.
In Amiriyat al-Fallujah two Iraqi soldiers were wounded as they tried to defused a bomb left on a police officer’s car.
Gunmen attacked the Tahreer home of a traffic officer and killed him. Nearby, two women were wounded when gunmen detonated a bomb at their home.
A bomb attached to a policeman’s car in Garma killed a policeman and his son, while wounding a bystander.
A blast in Mahmoudiya left no casualties.
In Kirkuk, a suspect was arrested. Explosives were discovered in a home.
Dhi Qar security forces reported seven Hezbollah Battalion incidents against U.S. targets during Ramadan and warned of increased activity even as the holiday draws to a close.
Sixteen suspects were detained in Basra province, where the governor is separately demanding to execute bombers in the locations of their attacks.
Turkish media sources reported that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched a rocket attack in Turkey‘s Hakkari province. Nine rebels were killed and one soldier was wounded in subsequent clashes. Last month, the PKK had announced a new ceasefire that would last through Ramadan and at least until Sept. 20. It is unclear if that truce has been suspended. Separately, a Turkish soldier was killed in Tunceli province during clashes following an attack on a transformer. The second attack was blamed on Maoist Communist Party members. Turkey has scheduled a constitutional referendum for Sunday.
