Updated at 5:21 p.m. EDT, Nov. 3, 2011
For a second day in a row, bombers were successful in amassing a large number of casualties in a single coordinated attack. Today’s main blasts occurred at a military base near Baquba. Overall, at least 18 Iraqis were killed and 56 more were wounded in this attack and other violence. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are angling to keep a high-profile detainee in their custody.
The U.S. military is seeking Iraqi permission to keep one of its detainees in U.S. custody. Lebanon-born Ali Mussa Daqduq is believed to be the Hezbollah operative behind the kidnapping and murder of four U.S. soldiers in 2007. Under a 2008 withdrawal agreement, U.S. forces are obliged to hand over all Iraqi detainees. The Obama administration has intimated they would like to try him in military court, but it is unclear what the United States will actually with Daqduq. Officials believe the Iraqis will simply free him. Most detainees have already been transferred to Iraqi authority.
About 10 people were killed and 40 more were wounded when a coordinated suicide and car bomb attack took place near Baquba in Um al-Adhaim. Casualty figures after significant attacks often conflict as different sources release their numbers. The first attack targeted Sahwa militia forces waiting to collect their pay at an army base. The second occurred when first responders arrived.
In Baghdad, a blast killed five people and wounded 10 others in the Karrada commercial district. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded during an attack on a Hurriya checkpoint.
A policeman was killed during a home invasion in Qayara.
In Mosul, two civilians were wounded when a bomb targeting police exploded.
Gunmen killed a civilian and wounded another in Baaj.
A roadside bomb blast in Tuz Khormato wounded one soldier.
Security was tightened in Karbala ahead of the Eid observance.
