Baquba and Mosul took the lion’s share of violence today. Although no major attacks took place, at least five Iraqis were killed and 21 more were wounded. Meanwhile, the political crisis continues.
A Kurdish judicial delegation arrived in Baghdad to look over Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi‘s security files. These files allegedly prove that Hashemi has been involved with terrorism. Hashemi is currently in Iraqi Kurdistan, afraid to return to a judicial system controlled by his political rival Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. >
Separately, Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi claims that Maliki has had over 1,000 members of opposing political parties arrested in recent months. Some of them are being tortured in secret prisons, he said. Fellow politicians say the number is closer to 1,800 prisoners. Over 600 Sunnis were openly arrested in recent weeks, and secret prisons were discovered as recently as last year.
A member of parliament’s security and defense committee, Hakim al-Zamily, announced that the government is planning to replace some security commanders in response to security threats. Major General Abdul-Hussein al-Amir said that some of these commanders are connected to terrorist groups; however, this could just be an attempt by Maliki to deflect blame for Sunni arrests on rogue members of his security forces instead of himself.
In Baquba, a bomb wounded three family members, including a Sahwa member, at his home. Two policemen were wounded in a roadside bombing attack. A bombing wounded a child; when the ambulance arrived, a second bomb wounded the driver. A civilian was wounded in another bombing attack. At least five more bombs were detonated, resulting in various levels of damage but no casualties. Three bombs were defused.
In Mosul, gunmen killed the owner of a neighborhood generator. In many neighborhoods, residents share a generator for their power needs because of a lack of electricity. A Shabak man was killed and his brother was wounded in another attack. Gunmen killed a soldier. Another soldier was wounded in a bombing. A girl who had been abducted in Ishaqi was discovered at a hospital in Mosul.
A Sahwa member was killed and three others were wounded during a drive-by attack in Samarra.
In Baghdad, a traffic policeman was shot to death. A kidnapped girl was liberated. Three civilians were wounded in a bombing in Jamiaa.
Gunmen killed a civilian during a drive-by to Jalawla.
Three policemen were wounded in an attack on their Wadi Hajar checkpoint.
A child and a soldier were wounded in an R.P.G. attack in Tal al-Romman.
A bomb targeting a politician’s home in Kut left the building damaged but no casualties were reported. Three engineers were kidnapped.
