At least 66 Iraqis were killed and 175 more were wounded, mostly in one attack in Tikrit. The rest of the reported attacks were in Baghdad or just north of the capital. The curious lack of reporting outside of central Iraq likely is due to a lack of reporters, or perhaps censorship, than an actual decrease in attacks. What little news does escape point to daily attacks still occurring in some cities, such as Mosul.
Meanwhile, Sweden is planning to deport 25 Iraqis to Iraq tomorrow — even though some are from targeted minorities — claiming the group does not meet their asylum requirements. Also, the United Kingdom has blocked requests for access to former Prime Minister Tony Blair‘s correspondence with former U.S. President George Bush prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
A suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest lined with ball bearings struck at a police recruitment center in Tikrit. At least 65 people were killed and 160 more were wounded when he detonated the vest. Most if not all of the casualties were young men looking for work in the security forces, and the local council will give the injured or the families of the dead compensatory money.
In Baghdad, a bomb wounded three people, including a Sahwa member, in Saidiya. A separate blast wounded two people, including a policeman. Gunmen in Yarmouk injured a civilian and a soldier. Three people were wounded in Iskan during a blast. A bomb left in a Jamiaa supermarket last night killed the owner. A bomb near a Khaleej school was defused.
Five Shi’ite pilgrims were wounded in a blast in Mushahda.
