Iraq Watch: July 31, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Five U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks in the capital city of Baghdad the U.S. military announced on Sunday.

The first attack occurred at about 1:40 p.m. on Saturday in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad killing one soldier and wounding two others. The second bombing, which killed four Task Force Baghdad soldiers, happened at 11:00 p.m. in the southwestern part of the capital yesterday.

In Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a checkpoint killing seven people and wounding at least 12 more.

In the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk insurgents opened fire on a truck carrying members of the local halth administartion killling one and injuring two others. Also in Kirkuk, an Iraqi translator working for American troops was killed outside his home.

Gunmen in Baqouba, located about 40 miles north of Baghdad, killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded three more after ambushing them as they left a military base.

Aljazeera reports that at least 16 Iraqi civilians were killed on Sunday in three separate incidents around the war-torn country, including eight who were killed when their car was hit by a roadside bomb outside the northern city of al-Dur.

Iraq Watch: July 29, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden bag outside an Iraqi army recruiting center in the town Rabiah, about 230 miles north of Baghdad, killing at least 25 people. Another 35 would-be army volunteers were wounded in the early morning attack near the Syrian border.

The terrorist group, al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement posted on the internet.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of three American soldiers, two of whom were killed yesterday in a clash with insurgents near the Syrian border.

In the capital of Baghdad late Friday, gunmen assassinated senior Shiite tribal leader Faisal Saad Essa, the AP reports.

Also in Baghdad, three Iraqis were killed and 15 injured when a car bomb exploded next to a group of men drinking alcohol in the Sunni Muslim district of Adhamiyah.

Iraq Watch: July 26, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Up to 17 people were killed west of Baghdad on Tuesday when approximately 10 insurgents ambushed a bus carrying workers home from an Iraqi government-owned company.

The terrorist organization al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, today announced through a posting on an Islamic website that they have decided to execute both Algerian diplomats that they kidnapped late last week after trying and convicting them in their 'judicial court'.

The statement also included a short video of the two men - Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi - showing them blindfolded. Neither the statement or video was independently verifiable although it was signed by al-Qaida in Iraq's purported spokesman Abu Maysara al-Iraqi.

In Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, gunmen assassinated a senior aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In the eastern part of the capital, near the New Baghdad area, three Iraqi Ministry of Health employees were killed according to Reuters.

Elsewhere, two Iraqi police were killed in a mortar attack on their position in southern Baghdad. In the southern Shiite town of Hilla, located about 60 miles south of Baghdad, three more police were killed in another mortar attack.

Iraq Watch: July 25, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber detonated his minibus packed with explosives at a checkpoint near the Sadeer Hotel in the capital city of Baghdad early Monday morning killing at least 12 people and wounding 18 others. The blast, which occurred at around 6:15 a.m., sent large plumes of black smoke over the city.

Less than three hours later a second suicide bomber exploded his vehicle outside one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces killing two Iraqi police commandos and injuring at least 10 more. The blast occurred on Kindi Street in the west-central part of the city according to CNN.

The U.S. military announced the death of a U.S. soldier who was killed by an IED near the central city of Samarra on Monday.

Also in Samarra, located along the banks of the Tigris, the head of the city's local council, Taha Ahmed, was killed late Sunday along with one of his associates by insurgents.

Sunni Arab members of the committee drafting the nations new constitution decided to end their boycott of the process on Monday, six days after having walked out. The bloc had been on strike to protest the killings of two of its members last week.

Sunni participation in drafting the new constitution is vital in order not to further alienate and isolate the minority Sunnis who are believed to make up the core of the current insurgency.

Elsewhere Monday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a suprise visit to Baghdad where he met with various Iraqi leaders and also to 'Camp Smitty' in southern Iraq to met with some of Australia's 750 troops currently serving in Iraq.

Iraq Watch: July 22, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 16 people were killed throughout Iraq on Friday according to the AP.

A U.S. soldier was killed yesterday by an IED near the city of Zaidon the U.S. military announced on Friday.

The bodies of three Sunni brothers were found executed in eastern Baghdad today. The three, one of which was an iman at a Sunni mosque in Rashdiya, were kidnapped from their home late Thursday.

On the political front, Sunni members of the committee drafting Iraq's constitution continued their boycott of the process on Friday after two of their members were assissanated earlier in the week. This is potentially a major blow to the Iraqi political process which has set an August 15th deadline for the completition of the country's constitution.

Iraq Watch: July 19, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Mijbil Issa, a Sunni member of the constitution committee designed to help Iraq draft a new constitution, was shot and killed outside a restaurant in the Karradah district of Baghdad. An advisor to the committee, Dhamin Hussein, along with a bodyguard were also killed in the attack.

Elsewhere, at least 13 people were killed when gunmen ambushed their minibus. The bus was carrying Iraqi workers on their way to the U.S. al-Faris airbase in Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A roadside bomb killed a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) along with an Iraqi policeman near the northern city of Kirkuk.

Iraq Watch: July 17, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide bombing attacks continued in the capital city of Baghdad on Sunday killing more than 20 people according to the AP.

Sunday's attacks come a day after a massive suicide bombing in the Iraqi town of Musayyib. The Iraqi government now puts the death toll from the Musayyib bombing at 98. Another 75 people were wounded in the blast caused by a suicide bomber blowing up a fuel tanker near the town center.

Also Sunday, the Iraqi Special Tribunal announced the first criminal charges against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Chief judge Raid Juhi said the charges relate to the 1982 killings of some 150 Shiites in the town of Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad. The massacre allegedly took place after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam.

The court now has 45 days to announce a start date for the trial.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of two U.S. soldiers.

Iraq Watch: July 16, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives next to a gas station in the town of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, on Sunday killing at least 54 people and wounding at least 82 more.

The bomber exploded himself next to a fuel tanker truck approaching the station causing the massive explosion which caught nearby homes and businesses on fire. The gas station, located in the city center, was also near a Shiite mosque.

Earlier on Saturday, the British military announced the deaths of three British soldiers who were killed early Saturday morning in a roadside bombing. Two other British soldiers were injured in the blast near the town of Amarah, located 180 miles southeast of Baghdad.

A previously unknown Shiite group, the Imam Hussein Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack in a message posted on an Islamic militant website.

In other violence Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest inside a police station south of Mosul killing at least six Iraqi policemen and wounding 20 others.

Three Iraqi police commandoes were killeed when a suicide car bomber attacked their patrol near the Dora section of Baghdad. Five civilians were also injured in the attack.

Near the town of Dhuluiyah, a foreign truck driver was killed Saturday when he hit a roadside bomb.

Elsewhere, according to Aljazeera, at least eight Iraqis were killed after two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the Shiite Ijbala mosque in the southern city of al-Hillah. The attack, which occured during afternoon prayers, also injured 12 others and damaged several nearby homes.

Iraq Watch: July 11, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed after insurgents attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in Khalis, about 45 miles north of Baghdad. Two Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were wounded in the pre-dawn attacks claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq in a statement posted on a militant web site.

The U.S. military announced today that two U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday by indirect fire near the town of Hit.

The U.S. military also announced that it has killed 14 suspected insurgents over the past two days in Tal Afar, located 260 miles north of the capital. The AP reports that six civilians were killed and 22 injured in the fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents.

South of Baghdad, near the town of al-Azisiyah, two Iraqi soldiers were shot to death as they searched homes in the area.

The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars on Monday accused Iraqi Interior Ministry police of suffocating to death nine Iraqi Sunni bricklayers who were arrested on Sunday in the western Amariyah district of Baghdad. After being taken to police headquarters nearby the suspects were allegedly beaten and then thrown into the back of a police van where nine of the 11 men later died from suffocation.

Iraq Watch: July 10, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber dressed in civilian clothes killed at least 25 people and wounded nearly 50 in an early morning attack outside of an Iraqi army recruiting center in central Baghdad.

The attack was claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq, led by the Jordanian born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Near the Syrian border, two suicide car bombers killed at least seven Iraqi customs officials. The attack occured around 2:20 p.m. near the al-Walid border crossing. The crossing, one of three leagal border crossings between Syria and Iraq, was closed by U.S. troops following the suicide blasts.

Elsewhere, six U.S. troops were injured in two seperate suicide bombings - one in Baghdad and one in Fallujah - on Sunday.

Near Mosul, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into an Iraqi army convoy killing five policemen and injuring another three.

Also, four Iraqis were killed in a suicide bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk. At least 15 others were wounded in the attack.

In the capital city of Baghdad a Shiite family of eight were found killed in their home Sunday. The mother, along with seven of her children, had been shot to death in their sleep.

The body of Iraq's karate association chief was found floating in a river with several gunshot wounds near the city of Kut. Ali Shakir was abducted late Thursday in the city of Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: July 8, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. soldier was killed and three others were wounded when an IED exploded next to their patrol near the Iraqi city of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Separately, another three U.S. soldiers were wounded near the southern city of Suwayrah after their convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb and small arms fire. Also in the south, a kidnapped university professor was found dead in Basra.

A suicide car bomb near the city of Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, exploded next to an Iraqi army convoy. There was no immediate word on casualties, however, the AP reports that bits of human flesh could be seen along with the remains of mangled cars affected by the blast.

AFP reports that in the northern city of Mosul four taxicab passengers were killed after gunmen attacked their vehicle. Elsewhere in and around the city, the bodies of at least six executed people, including two policemen, were discovered.

At the Dura oil refinery, located near the capital, a large fire broke out after insurgents attacked the facility with a barrage of mortars. The mortars landed on the petrol refining area of the plant according to civil defense spokesman Kazem Bashir Salem.

Iraq Watch: July 6, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In Jbala, 45 miles south of Baghdad, two car bombs exploded killing at least 11 people and wounding another 19. One bomb went off near a car dealership and the other exploded along a main thoroughfare entering the town.

Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, announced today that Egyptian diplomat Ihab al-Sherif, who was kidnapped in the capital on Saturday, has been 'convicted' by al-Qaida's religious court as being an apostate and was awaiting his punishment. The insurgent group also published pictures of al-Sherif's various identification cards.

Also Wednesday, Lt. Col. Rahim Amin, a member of the Shiite Badr Brigade, was gunned down in the Dura district of southern Baghdad.

Elsewhere, four Iraqi policemen were killed and nine more injured by gunmen in seperate attacks in and around Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: July 2, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the capital city of Baghdad a suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up near an Iraqi police recruiting station in the western part of the city killing at least 16 people, including 11 police recruits, and injuring another 22.

Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, clamed responsibility for the attack in an internet statement.

In Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, a suicide bomeber detonated himself near an Iraqi police checkpoint killing at least six Iraqi policemen. A second suicide bomber attacked emergency personal arriving at the scene of the first bombing injuring 26 people.

Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack northwest of Baghdad.

In Mosul, insurgents killed police Lt. Col. Anwar Sheik Kabeer Sorchyee as he drove to work.

Also in Mosul, according to AFP, at least 12 exectued bodies have been turned into local hospitald in the northern city within the last day.

Elsewhere, in Mahmoudiya - 12 miles south of the capital - two people were killed and nine injured when a bomb exploded near a mosque. The bombing occured just minutes after mourners of Sheik Kamaleddin al-Ghuraifi, who was killed by gunmen on Friday, passed by on their way to the Shiite holy city of Najaf.