Iraq Watch: May 31, 2006

Violence Continues; Prime Minister Visits Basra

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb in the northern city of Mosul killed at least five Iraqi policemen and wounded 14 others as violence persisted across Iraq Wednesday.

Newly appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the southern city of Basra Wednesday and implemented a month-long state of emergency for the country's second largest city. Al-Maliki promised to use an "iron fist" to stop the gang violence plaguing the predominately Shiite town.

Maverick Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq's (SCIRI) Badr Brigade are pitted in a violent power struggle for control of the pivotal port city.

In other violence Wednesday, Iraqi authorities announced that they have found at least 42 bodies, many of them boring signs of torture, throughout Baghdad within the last day.

Meanwhile, insurgents assassinated the mayor of Muqdadiyah. Sheik Allaywi Farhan al-Dulaimi was killed when a bomb hidden in his officer's air conditioner exploded Wednesday morning. Al-Dulaimi was a member of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP).

Northeast of the capital, in the oft-restive city of Baqouba, militants ambushed a minibus killing five Iraqis and wounding three.

Iraq Watch: May 30, 2006

Violence in Iraq Claims Over 50 Lives

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Violence throughout Iraq Tuesday claimed over 50 lives as Iraqi politicians struggled to agree on two key ministry vacancies, defense and interior.

Tuesday's deadliest attack occurred north of Baghdad in Husseiniyah where a car bomb exploded near a busy market. At least 25 Iraqis were killed and 65 injured in the early-evening blast.

South of the capital, in Hillah, 12 people died and over 30 were wounded when a car packed with explosives detonated near an auto dealership.

In Baghdad itself, insurgents launched a barrage of mortars at the heavily guarded Interior Ministry building killing two and wounding three. The mortars, rigged to a car parked nearby, were fired remotely according to the AP.

Late Tuesday, nine Iraqis were killed and 10 injured in a bombing at an eastern Baghdad bakery.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. soldier assigned to the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team was killed yesterday by small-arms fire in Mosul.

CENTCOM also announced Tuesday that it has ordered approximately 1,500 troops from the 1st Armored Division to the volatile Anbar province. The reservists' troops were stationed in nearby Kuwait.

Anbar province, which encompasses much of western Iraq, has long been a bastion of support for the nations Sunni-dominated insurgency. The U.S. military along with Iraqi forces have launched numerous operations in the restive province over the past three years in an effort to quell the largely unmitigated violence there.

In political developments, Iraqi lawmakers continue to wrangle over who will head the contentious Interior and Defense Ministries.

According to published reports, Iraq's minority Sunnis have been promised the Defense Ministry while the majority Shiites will garner the Interior Ministry. The bickering has arisen over which candidates the two sects will present.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stated previously that as the leader of Iraq he has the power to insert his own candidates for the positions if parliament is unable to agree on their own.

Also Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates announced that Naji Rashid al-Nuaimi – a UAE diplomate seized earlier this month – has been freed by his captors. Al-Nuaimi was abducted May 16 from Baghdad's upscale Mansour district. The previously unknown group "Banner of Islam" claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Iraq Watch: May 29, 2006

Spasm of Violence Leaves Nearly 40 Dead in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A surge in violence across Iraq on Monday left some 40 people dead, including two CBS News employees who were slain in a Baghdad car bombing.

The CBS News crewmembers were killed while on assignment with the U.S. military in Baghdad. The CBS News crew was filming a piece in the capital's central Karada district when a car bomb exploded. The powerful blast killed cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan along with a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter. The blast also left veteran CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier in critical condition and six U.S. soldiers wounded.

Elsewhere, 10 Iraqis were killed when a roadside bomb hit a bus carrying members of the Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK) near Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad. Additionally, 12 members of the group – composed of Iranian dissidents – were injured in the blast.

Two car bombs rocked Baghdad's Azamiyah district, meanwhile, killing at least 11 Iraqis and wounding over 45. One of the bombs detonated near the prominent Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque while the other exploded near a local university. Azamiyah, a frequent scene of violence and bloodletting, is a predominately Sunni enclave located in northern Baghdad.

Another car bomb detonated near an outdoor market in the northern Baghdad district of Kazimiyah, killing at least seven civilians and injuring over 20.

In attacks against Iraq's fledgling security forces, gunmen killed two police officers in western Baghdad and two more in Amarah, southeast of the capital. Also, a roadside bomb killed two policemen and injured three others in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Britain's MoD announced the deaths of two British soldiers Monday. The two soldiers, assigned to the Queen's Dragoon Guards, were killed yesterday by an IED in the southern city of Basra.

Iraq Watch: May 26, 2006

Bombs Hit Baghdad Markets

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three bombs exploded at bustling Baghdad marketplaces Friday leaving over a dozen Iraqis dead and nearly 70 wounded.

The first bomb, hidden underneath a parked car, exploded Friday morning in the largely Shiite neighborhood of Nahda. The blast killed at least nine and injured 30 more.

Separately, a bomb detonated in the capital's al-Bayaa district wounding upwards of 20 civilians.

Late Friday, in the third market blast, four Iraqis were killed and some 20 wounded when a car bomb went off in southeastern Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Sunni imam Wafiq al-Hamdani was assassinated in a drive-by shooting in the southern city of Basra. Al-Hamdani's death prompted Sunni clerics in the area to close their mosques in protest. Yaum al-Juma, or Friday, is the traditional Muslim day of prayer.

In more apparent sectarian bloodshed, four bodies were found in the southern city of Kut on Friday while the U.S. military discovered 14 corpses late Thursday near Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

Police also discovered the beheaded bodies of four people who were abducted from a wedding party Thursday night in the religiously-mixed town of Muqdadiyah, northeast of the capital.

In the restive town of Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province, militants kidnapped at least eight people late Thursday. Four of the abducted individuals were security guards for a local state-run TV station while the others were government employees according to the Washington Post.

In a foreboding sign of the growing religious extremism in parts of post-Saddam Iraq, the nations Interior Ministry announced Friday that insurgents executed the coach of Iraq's national tennis team along with two of the teams' players earlier this week in Baghdad.

The BBC reports that religious zealots allegedly killed the three for "wearing shorts." AFP adds that the trio had just dropped off laundry at a local cleaners' when gunmen stopped their car, pulled them out, and executed them on the spot.

The Washington Times recently reported that militants linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq have begun implementing a strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law, in some Sunni-dominated parts of the capital city.

Iraqi Cabinet Named

On Saturday Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced his selections for Iraqi Cabinet. All but three of the Cabinet slots were successfully filled. The spots yet to be agreed upon by the 275-member Iraqi parliament include defense minister, interior minister, and the minister of state for national security.

Courtesy of the AP:
Deputy prime minister: Barham Saleh, Kurd.
Deputy prime minister: Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, Sunni Arab.
Acting interior minister: Nouri al-Maliki (also prime minister).
Acting defense minister: al-Zubaie (also deputy prime minister).
Oil minister: Hussain al-Shahristani, Shiite.
Finance minister: Bayan Jabr, Shiite.
Trade minister: Abed Falah al-Sudani, Shiite.
Foreign minister: Hoshyar Zebari, Kurd.
Justice minister: Hashim al-Shebli, Sunni Arab.
Electricity minister: Karim Waheed, Shiite.
Industry minister: Fawzi al-Hariri, Kurd.
Water resources minister: Latif Rashid, Kurd.
Housing and construction minister: Bayan Dazee, Kurdish woman.
Agriculture minister: Yarrub Nazim, Shiite.
Education minister: Khudayer Al-Khuzaie, Shiite
Higher education minister: Abed Theyab, Sunni Arab.
Health minister: Ali Al-Shemari, Shiite.
Transport minister: Karim Mahdi, Shiite.
Migration minister: Abdul-Samad Rahman, Shiite.
Acting minister of state for national security: Saleh (also deputy prime minister).
Minister of state for civil society affairs: Adel al-Assadi, Shiite.
Minister of state for House of Representatives affairs: Safa al-Safi, Shiite.
Youth and sports minister: Jassim Mohammed Jaafar, Shiite.
Minister of state for tourism and archaeology affairs: Liwa Semeism, Shiite.
Planning and development cooperation minister: Ali Baban, Sunni Arab.
Communications minister: Mohammed Twafiq, Shiite.
Labor and social affairs minister: Mahmoud Mohammed al-Radhi, Shiite.
Municipalities and public works minister: Riyad Gharib, Shiite.
Environment minister: Narmin Othman, Kurdish woman.
Culture minister: Assad Kamal Mohammed, Kurd.
Minister of state for womens affairs: Fatin Abdel-Rahman, Sunni Arab woman.
Minister of state for provincial affairs: Saad Tahir Abid, Sunni Arab.
Science and technology minister: Raed Fahmi, Sunni Arab.
Human rights minister: Wijdan Mikaeil, Christian woman.
Minister of state for Foreign Affairs: Rafaa al-Esawi, Sunni Arab.
Minister of national dialogue: Akram al-Hakim, Shiite.
Minister of state: Mohammed Abbas Auraibi, Shiite.
Minister of state: Ali Mohammed Ahmed, Kurd.
Minister of state: Hassan Rhadi Khazim, Shiite.

Iraq Watch: May 19, 2006

Al-Maliki Plans to Present Cabinet Choices Saturday

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki plans to present his choices for cabinet before the nations parliament Saturday, two days before the May 22 deadline.

Reuters reports that Hussain al-Shahristani will head Iraq's Oil Ministry while the country's economic reconstruction will be overseen by two deputy premiere's, Kurd Barham Salih and Sunni Salam al-Zobaie.

However, the key positions of interior and defense minister have still not been agreed upon and will be filled with temporary appointees until the final selections for the vital slots have been approved.

The controversial outgoing interior minister, Bayan Jabar, will be named Iraq's Finance Minister. Also, the BBC states that incumbent Kurdish Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will reclaim his post.

In violence Friday, a gunbattle between insurgents and Iraqi security forces in western Baghdad's Jihad neighborhood left at least five civilians dead and eight injured.

Also in Baghdad, six pool maintenance workers were slain by gunmen in the capital's Adel neighborhood according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, fighting continued in Ramadi, west of the capital. The predominately Sunni town has long been a hotbed of anti-American sentiment and the scene of frequent insurgent attacks. CNN reports that the U.S. military plans to send in reinforcements to Anbar's provincial capital in an attempt to quell the largely unfettered violence.

In the mostly Shiite town of Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, unknown assailants set fire to at least 30 shops in a residential market place. The arson attack appeared to be sectarian in nature.

Iraq Watch: May 16, 2006

Baghdad Besieged by Wave of Attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a multi-faceted attack militants Tuesday killed five security personnel guarding a small outdoor market and parking garage. The assailants then proceeded to detonate a car bomb next to an oil tanker in the capital's northern Shaab district.

The oil tanker blast incinerated at least 14 Iraqis and wounded nearly 40 more. The New York Times reports that some of the victims belonged to the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to maverick Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In northern Baghdad, insurgents opened fire on a minibus carrying a group of Iraqis who were employed at a U.S. base in Taji killing at least four and wounding eight.

Elsewhere, in Baghdad's volatile Dora district, running gunfights erupted between militants and Iraqi police. Six civilians were killed after getting caught in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, late Tuesday, gunmen abducted Naji al-Nuaimi, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) diplomat, in the capital's up-scale Mansour neighborhood.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of three U.S. service members. A roadside bomb killed a MND-B soldier early Tuesday morning in southern Baghdad. Two soldiers, assigned to the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were killed by an IED Monday near Balad.

Iraq Watch: May 15, 2006

U.S. Helicopter Shot Down South of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter south of the capital near Youssifiyah killing two American soldiers aboard.

The downed chopper was involved in an offensive operation aimed at insurgents operating in the area. According to the U.S. military at least 40 militants were reported killed in separate forays in the area over the past two days.

The Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella militant organization consisting of eight insurgent groups including al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the downing of the helicopter in a statement posted on the Internet.

Youssifiyah is located at the northern tip of the oft-restive area known as the "Triangle of Death." The area, positioned just south of Baghdad, is composed of a volatile mix of Sunnis and Shiites and is often the scene of sectarian violence.

The influential Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) decried the recent U.S.-led raids as "atrocit[ies]" and said that at least 25 civilians have been killed as a result of the offensive.

The U.S. military also announced that two Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7, were killed yesterday "due to enemy action" in Anbar province.

Meanwhile, near the increasingly uneasy Shiite city of Basra, eight Iraqi policemen were killed and 10 wounded by local tribesmen in clashes that erupted after attackers wearing police uniforms assassinated a leader of the Garmasha tribe.

Also in the southern part of the country, guerillas injured four British troops when they launched a mortar barrage against Camp Abu Naji located in the provincial capital of Amarah.

Elsewhere, three teachers and their driver were gunned down near Balad Ruz after militants ambushed their minibus northeast of Baghdad.

In Mosul, 225 miles north of the capital, an Iraqi policeman was killed and two others were wounded when a bomb exploded near a house where police were investigating the shooting deaths of six family members who were found executed earlier in the day.

Also, in Baghdad, authorities discovered five corpses, all shot to death, in a western district of the capital city.

Iraq Watch: May 10, 2006

Militants Ambush Electrical Company Employees Near Baqouba

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Guerillas on Wednesday ambushed a minibus carrying employees of the state-run Diyala Electronics Co. to work near the oft-restive city of Baqouba, north of Baghdad.

Insurgents ordered women passengers off the bus and then proceeded to execute the male riders. The attackers also planted a bomb onboard, which they detonated when emergency responders arrived at the scene.

In total, 11 people were left dead and six were wounded in the ambuscade according to the AP.

In an almost daily occurrence, the AFP news agency reports that Iraqi authorities discovered the executed corpses of at least 13 unidentified Iraqis throughout the capital city Wednesday.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen assassinated Mohammed Musab Talal al-Amari, the director of public relations for Iraq's Defense Ministry in the capital's Bayaa district.

In attacks against Iraq's fledgling security forces, a roadside bomb hit an Iraqi army patrol in the capital killing one soldier, while two traffic policemen were gunned down in a western Baghdad. Elsewhere, four off-duty police officers were slain on their way home from work late Tuesday in the insurgent-rife city of Ramadi.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that five detainees escaped early Wednesday from an American-run prison in northern Iraq. The escapees broke out of the Fort Suse internment center located on the outskirts of Sulaimaniyah, a largely Kurdish town situated 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: May 8, 2006

Car Bomb Explodes Outside Baghdad Courthouse

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded outside a central Baghdad courthouse on Monday killing at least five Iraqis and wounding 10 others.

Elsewhere, a car bomb detonated in eastern Baghdad as an Iraqi police patrol passed by leaving two policemen dead and 12 injured.

Also Monday, at least 19 executed bodies were discovered across the sectarian-rife country.

In political developments, officials close to Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki said that the newly appointed Shiite leader will present his choices for the nations new cabinet soon, possibly as early as Tuesday.

Al-Maliki, a member of the Iranian-backed Dawa Party, has until May 22 to finalize a cabinet which will then be voted on by Iraq's 275-member parliament.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of two U.S. service members Monday.

A MND-B soldier was killed by an IED at approximately 11:10 a.m. Monday southeast of Baghdad.

Separately, CENTCOM reported that a Task Force Band of Brothers soldier died and another was injured yesterday while engaging insurgents near the northern city of Tal Afar.

Iraq Watch: May 7, 2006

Car Bombs Rock Baghdad, Karbala

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A series of car bombs struck across the heart of Iraq Sunday leaving over 15 dead and dozens more injured.

More than 40 bodies, meanwhile, were discovered in various parts of Baghdad authorities announced Sunday. All the victims were found systematically bound, blindfolded, and shot in the head.

In the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 60 miles south of the capital, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near the town's provincial government building around 9:30 a.m. killing at least five people and wounding 19.

Karbala, home to over half a million, is one of the most revered cities in Shiite Islam. Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, is buried in Karbala. His tumb, located underneath the Imam Husayn Shrine, built in his honor, attracts thousands of Shiite religious pilgrims every year.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad's Azamiyah district a suicide car bomber hit a passing Iraqi army patrol killing 10 and injuring at least 15. Another car bomb in the capital city left one civilian dead and over 20 wounded.

In other violence, a total of three Iraqi policemen, including a sergeant, were gunned down in separate incidents Sunday in Baghdad. Three more policemen were killed in a roadside bombing in the northern city of Mosul.

Also Sunday, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. Marine, assigned to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, died from wounds "sustained due to enemy action" in the volatile Anbar province.

Iraq Watch: May 6, 2006

British Helicopter Downed in Basra

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British military helicopter was reportedly downed by enemy fire in the southern Iraqi city of Basra Saturday.

A large crowd of onlookers amassed at the scene of the crash in the predominately Shiite city, which is home to over 1.5 million. The crowd heckled and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at British troops who cordoned off the crash site. At least three British military armored vehicles were set on fire in the confrontation.

Many of the protestors chanted slogans praising maverick Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his militia, the al-Mahdi Army.

In response, British soldiers opened fire on the virulent crowd killing at least four people and wounding over 30.

Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) admitted that there were causalities but gave no specific figures, however, various news outlets reported that four British airmen were killed in the helicopter crash.

Bordering along the Shatt al-Arab waterway, Basra, oppressed under the iron-fisted rule of Sunni President Saddam Hussein, was initially fairly accepting and even appreciative of U.S.-led foreign forces during the early stages of the Iraq conflict.

The city, however, has turned increasingly xenophobic and violent in recent months. Powerful Shiite militias, such as Muqtada al-Sadr's aforementioned al-Mahdi Army as well as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq's (SCIRI) Badr Brigade, have rose to prominence in Basra and other Shiite enclaves across the war-torn nation.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber strategically struck an Iraqi army base near the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. The bomber, wearing an Iraqi army uniform, meandered inside the base and detonated his explosives killing a lieutenant colonel, a major, and a lieutenant. Another lieutenant colonel was injured in the blast.

In other violence, two Iraqi policemen and an Iraqi soldier were killed in a car bombing north of Baqouba.

In another grisly yet increasingly common discovery, Iraqi authorities found the corpses of at least 18 men throughout Baghdad Saturday. Two more bodies were found in the oil-rich city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of the capital. Thousands of executed bodies, apparent victims of sectarian tit-for-tat killings, have shown up across Iraq since the February 22 bombing of the revered Shiite Askariya shrine in Samarra.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the death of a U.S. soldier who was killed yesterday by an IED in Baghdad.

Iraq Watch: May 5, 2006

U.S. Soldiers Killed in IED Blast

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three U.S. soldiers were killed Friday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb south of Baghdad in Babil province. The soldiers were assigned to MND-B.

The AP reports the vehicle was struck shortly before noon near the city of Mahaweel, 35 miles south of Baghdad.

Also Friday, seven employees of the North Oil Company were abducted after militants ambushed the minibus they were riding in.

Elsewhere, Iraqi authorities discovered five corpses, all shot in the head, in various parts of the capital city Friday. Three more bodies were found north of Baghdad in Khalis according to the Washington Post.

AFP reports that six people were killed and two wounded when gunmen opened fire on a Baghdad liquor store.

Following the fall of Saddam Hussein's secular Baath regime in 2003, stores selling alcoholic beverages have become a frequent target of religious extremists, both Sunni and Shiite, who view the consumption of alcohol as haram, or forbidden.

Meanwhile, the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi video outtakes, released yesterday by the U.S. military, began to be widely broadcast on Iraqi television. The outtakes were captured in a raid last month by U.S. forces near Youssifiyah. The snippets of video show the Jordanian-born militant sporting a pair of American-made New Balance tennis shoes and misfiring an automatic weapon.

Iraq Watch: May 3, 2006

Suicide Bomber Hits Fallujah Police Recruitment Center

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber blew himself up amidst a crowd of police recruits in the former rebel-bastion of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

The bomber, dressed in civilian attire, detonated his hidden payload at approximately 8:00 a.m. killing at least 15 and wounding 30.

Elsewhere, authorities discovered the executed bodies of 34 people in and around the capital city of Baghdad. 14 of the corpses, all bearing signs of torture, were found in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Shaab.

Also in Baghdad, insurgents assassinated Jawad Kadom, a high-ranking electricity ministry official while four college students were slain by gunmen in the restive Dora neighborhood.

Meanwhile, a U.S. civilian was reported killed and two were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Iraq's parliament, in a largely procedural event, met Wednesday inside the capitals heavily fortified Green Zone. 154 of the 275 members of parliament attended Wednesday morning's session.

Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki, from the Shiite Dawa Party, has until May 22 to form a new cabinet, which will then be presented to parliament to be voted upon.

If al-Maliki is unable to produce an approved cabinet within the allotted time another prime minister must be selected and the painstaking process will start anew.

Iraq Watch: May 2, 2006

German Hostages Released; Suicide Bomber Attacks Anbar Governor

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two German hostages abducted nearly 100 days ago were released unharmed on Tuesday according to German officials.

The two engineers, Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, were kidnapped January 24 while on their way to work in the industrial town of Beiji, 55 miles north of Baghdad.

A previously unknown of group calling itself the "Brigade of Supporters of the Sunna and Tawhid" claimed responsibility for the abduction and released two videos of the men over the duration of their captivity.

The abductors had threatened to execute the men unless the Germany ceased its cooperation with the Iraqi government and close down its Baghdad embassy.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber attacked the convoy of Maamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani, the governor of the volatile Anbar province. The blast, which occurred when a bomber driving a taxi detonated his explosive-laden vehicle next to the governor's motorcade, killed at least 10 people and wounded six.

The apparent target of the bombing, however, escaped unharmed and returned to his government compound in the provincial capital city of Ramadi.

Elsewhere, the executed bodies of at least four Iraqis were found across the capital city while four more corpses were discovered south of Baghdad in Suwayrah.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. military announced the death of a MND-B soldier who was killed by a roadside bomb Monday night south of the capital.

Iraq Watch: May 1, 2006

Bloodshed Marks Three-Year Anniversary of "Mission Accomplished"

BAGHDAD, Iraq - On the third anniversary of U.S. President George W. Bush's proclamation of an end to "major combat operations" in Iraq dozens of Iraqis were killed in ongoing violence.

The now infamous 2003 speech, held aboard the USS Lincoln, featured a large banner reading "Mission Accomplished" that served as the backdrop for Bush's speech.

At least 15 corpses were found inside the capital Monday according to the AP. All the victims were discovered blindfolded and handcuffed.

Meanwhile, four Iraqis were killed in a bombing in Madain, southeast of Baghdad. Two people were also wounded in the market blast.

In the volatile Diyala province, two people, including a former general in Saddam Hussein's army, were gunned down in drive-by shootings.

Also, a suicide car bomber killed one civilian and injured two in a bombing near the town of Iskandariyah, located in the foreboding "Triangle of Death."