Thursday: 5 GIs, 83 Iraqis Killed; 2 GIs, 33 Iraqis Wounded; 3 Mass Kidnappings

Updated at 11:15 p.m. EST, Nov. 15, 2006

Kidnappings by death squads are commonplace in Baghdad; however, mass kidnappings still grab the headlines. In developing news today, as many as 60 more Iraqis were kidnapped from several minibuses and another 15 from a cafe, both in the capital. Another fourteen were kidnapped near Nasariyah; four of the abductees are believed to be American contractors. Also, the mass kidnapping in Baghdad on Tuesday is still a major news item as conflicting reports about it continue to surface. In other events, 83 Iraqis have been killed or found dead today and another 33 have been injured. Also, five American soldiers were killed and two injured in separate events in Diyala and Baghdad.

The U.S. military announced that one U.S. soldier was killed by small arms fire in the Diyala province today. Two American soldiers were killed, two more injured, when a roadside bomb blasted their vehicle during combat operations in Diyala province yesterday. In a separate incident, also in Diyala yesterday, a third American soldier was killed by small arms fire. They also reported on the death of an American soldier from small arms fire in Baghdad on Tuesday. This brings November’s tally up to 45 American deaths in Iraq.

The military also said that Coalition forces killed nine suspected al Qaeda members in a raid near Yusifiya. And in Basra, British forces came under attack from Katyusha rockets. No casualties were reported there.

Officials are also reporting that as many as 80 victims of the mass kidnapping in Baghdad on Tuesday remain missing; many of those already freed were tortured. Kidnappings continued today with as many as 60 victims being snatched off minibuses in western Baghdad. Another 15 people were abducted from a cafe in the Bataween neighborhood, and fourteen more were taken near Nasariyah, when a contractor convoy was ambushed.

Car and bicycle bombs were the note of the day in the capital. In the northern Qahira area, a car bomb killed one and wounded four. In the southwestern Amil district, a bicycle or motorbike rigged with explosives killed a man and wounded two others near a petrol station. A car bomb near a petrol station on Palestine St., in northeast Baghdad, killed one person and wounded four more. Another car bomb on Palestine St., this one near the Al Thawra court, killed four and wounded eight. Palestine St. is a major thoroughfare near Sadr City and often the site of attacks.

Also in Baghdad, 35 bodies were found scattered around the city. Gunmen also attacked a bakery in eastern Baghdad, killing nine and wounding two. Falling mortars in the Bab Al Sharqi region killed one person and wounded three others. A roadside bomb killed one and wounded three in the Shorja area in central Baghdad. In the Shaab area in northeastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb near the national stadium killed one police commando and wounded another.

In Mosul, gunmen attacked a convoy serving the governor of Mosul, Duraid Kashmula. The governor was not in the convoy, but one bodyguard was killed and four others were injured in the attack. Also, three men were killed when the bomb they were planting exploded prematurely.

Two gunshot and mutilated bodies were recovered in Baiji.

Four gunshot bodies were found in Yusifiya.

Ten people were shot dead in Baquba.

A bomb targeting a police patrol in Mosul killed two civilians instead.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis