Saturday: 158 Iraqis, 2 GIs Killed; 55 Iraqis, 1 GI Wounded

Updated at 1:00 p.m. EST, Nov. 27, 2006

As Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Saudi Arabia to discuss the volatile Middle East situation, 158 Iraqis were killed or found dead and at least another 55 were wounded during violent acts in the restive country. Fifty-eight of the dead were suspected militiamen, who were killed in raids and clashes north of the capital. Also killed was a Marine in Anbar province yesterday and a U.S. soldier in Falluja today.

In military events, an American soldier and three Iraqi civilians were killed today when a suicide car bomber attacked a checkpoint near Khalidiyah. Nine other civilians and a Marine were also wounded in the incident. Among the dead were two children. U.S. authorities also reported that a Marine died Friday from wounds sustained during combat in Anbar province.

Coalition forces killed 11 gunmen during an operation to capture a suspected terrorist just north of Baghdad. In a separate event, another 10 suspected militiamen were killed during a raid in Taiji; a teenage boy also died and a pregnant woman was injured in the incident. And during an Coalition air strike in Baquba, four women were killed and another one wounded.

Although Baghdad remained under a curfew, violence continued. Mortars landed in Hurriya, a heavily targeted mixed neighborhood, killing one person and wounding three others. One person was killed and six others were wounded in the Abu Dshir neighborhood during a mortar attack on a funeral. Ten other mortar rounds landed in the Adhamiya neighborhood, wounding 13 people. Seven more people were wounded when mortars fell in the Ghazaliya and Mustansiria neighborhoods. In northwestern Baghdad, three people were wounded during clashes between gunmen and Iraqi police. And police recovered 17 unidentified bodies that were scattered in different locations. Police and hospital officials in Baghdad reported the deaths of at least 27 others who were victims of violence on Saturday.

In the Diyala province, Sunni gunmen stormed two homes in Balad Ruz and killed 21 male occupants, including a 12-year-old boy. Elsewhere in the province, Iraqi police reported killing 47 militiamen and wounding dozens more in separate incidents. Police also discovered four dumped bodies.

Gunmen killed a police officer and wounded another in Mosul. In a separate incident, three more officers were wounded.

Two people were killed when the roadside bomb they were planting in Daquq detonated early.

A roadside bomb wounded four policemen in Kirkuk.

The bodies of two men were discovered on the highway between Kut and Baghdad. They showed evidence of torture.

Four civilians were killed when mortar rounds fell on Samarra.

And in Tikrit, a roadside bomb targeting Brigadier-General Faridoun Talabani’s convoy killed two guards and wounded three more late Friday.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis