New violence left at least 12 Iraqis dead and 28 more wounded. The worst attack occurred in Anbar province where, coincidentally, four Nukheib massacre suspects were finally released. Also, U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen said that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq should fall to 30,000 this month, a drop of about 15,000 troops.
Four suspects being held in connection with the Nukheib Massacre, then held on other charges, were finally released today. Meanwhile, an Iraqi analyst warned that it is too soon for Karbala province to bring up the perennial demand to annex the Nukheib area just to protect traveling pilgrims.
Four Iraqis were killed and as many as 18 more were wounded when three suicide bombers, dressed in military uniforms, staged a coordinated attack against a government complex in Ramadi. One of the bombers was apparently shot to death before he could detonate his explosives. Among the dead was a Sahwa leader. The deputy chairman of the provincial council blamed al-Qaeda in Iraq and claimed this was evidence that the terror group does not represent Sunnis.
In Baghdad, gunmen killed three policemen in the Shabb district. A tribal leader was killed in Karrada.
A police commander and three bodyguards were wounded in a sticky bomb attack in Baquba.
A bomb targeting Iranian pilgrims in Salah ad-Din province wounded three Iraqis when it exploded.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a police colonel.
A bomb left at the Falluja home of a policeman exploded and wounded three family members.
An explosion and fire at the Rumaila oil field killed one person and wounded 15 others. There are no indications the explosion was an act of terrorism.
A car bomb blamed on Kurdish rebels killed three people and wounded 34 others in Ankara, Turkey. Separately, a rocket attack in the southeast killed five people and wounded two others at a police school. Also, a bomb temporarily stopped a passenger train while it was removed and defused. The Kurdistan Workers Party has escalated attacks on Turkish targets in recent months, while Turkey has been conducting air strikes on rebel camps in northern Iraq for several weeks.
