Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in Damascus trying to warm relations between the two neighbors. Back home though, at least five Iraqis were killed and 15 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, estimates that 12,000 people reported missing could be detained in Iraqi prisons.
In Mosul, two people were killed and eight more were wounded in a car bomb attack on an army patrol. A bomb targeting a police official killed one person and three wounded. A thermal bomb wounded two more. Two Syrians were among eight suspects arrested.
In Baghdad, gunmen wounded two soldiers in the Amiriya neighborhood. One soldier was killed in a blast in Jamiaa. A large explosives cache was seized in Doura.
Border forces accidentally killed a bystander as they were chasing smugglers near the Syrian border at Rabeaa.
Although violence has not swelled dramatically in Kirkuk, reports of threats and intimidation have.
Twenty-four suspects were captured in Missan province.
In Tal Afar, two gunmen were arrested while in possession of a rocket cache.
A suspected al-Qaeda leader was detained near Suwayra.
Eight rockets were confiscated near Nasariya.
A jewelry store was robbed in Muqdadiya, but no casualties were reported. Authorities believe that al-Qaeda has turned to robbery to financially support their operations in Iraq.
Turkey has extended a mandate to carry out operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), despite the rebel group’s self-imposed truce. This would include military operations into northern Iraq, where PKK members are based.
