Iraq Watch: June 11, 2006

Insurgent Attacks Claim Nearly 40

Violence has persisted largely unabated since the death of Jordanian-born insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, fulfilling the promises of other Iraqi guerilla commanders.

In attacks Sunday, a car bomb in Baghdad's Karrada district killed at least six people and wounded over 40.

A suicide car bomber, meanwhile, rammed his vehicle into an Iraqi army checkpoint near Baqouba – not far from Hibhib, where al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday evening – killing seven Iraqi soldiers and one civilian.

In Amarah, about 180 miles south of Baghdad, a clash between British forces and Iraqi gunmen left five Iraqis dead and a British service member wounded. In response to the firefight, AFP reports the Maysan provincial government announced that it would sever all ties with Britain and demanded a full inquiry into the deadly incident.

Elsewhere, militants in Iraq's sprawling Anbar province attacked an Iraqi army base in Rawa killing four Iraqi soldiers. Anbar, a largely Sunni enclave encompassing much of western Iraq, has long been a hotbed for insurgent activity.

In other developments Sunday, authorities released some 230 prisoners being held at U.S. detention facilities in Iraq. 594 detainees were released Wednesday. The moves are part of a national reconciliation campaign spearheaded by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.