Friday: 68 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 164 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 10:59 p.m. EST, Dec. 1, 2006

As Italian troops left Iraq for good today, 68 Iraqis were killed and another 164 wounded in violent events across the country. U.S. authorities announced the death of a soldier on Thursday, and a prominent Iraqi soccer official was abducted.

In Coalition news, the U.S. military reported that a second American soldier was killed in Baghdad on Thursday; the death of the first soldier had already been announced yesterday. During clashes in the Fadhil neighborhood of Baghdad, combined U.S. and Iraqi troops engaged militiamen; three Iraqis were killed and another 11 wounded. Also, U.S forces killed two suspected militiamen and wounded a female human shield in raids near Baghdad, and a detainee at Camp Cropper died of apparently natural causes.

Despite a regular Friday car curfew in Baghdad, bombers were able to carry out their attacks. A car bomb in the Hussainiya neighborhood killed 3 and wounded 15 people. Three people were killed and 28 wounded as another car bomb was detonated at the al-Ghazel pet market. In the Sadiyah area, a family was drawn out of their house by an explosion; a second bomb killed one man and wounded six of his relatives. Three were killed and four injured in the Rashidiya neighborhood when mortars fell on them.

Early in the day, gunmen attacked an empty Sunni mosque; residents drove off the vandals with gunfire, but no casualties were reported. Last night, Hadib Majhoul, the chairman of the Talaba club and a member of the Iraqi Soccer Federation, was kidnapped while on his way to work, and two young Iraqi women were abducted on Friday. Also, 20 bodies were found scattered around the capital.

In Samawa, two people were killed and 13 wounded when mortars fell in a residential area late yesterday. Also, one civilian and 31 others were wounded late last night during more clashes between the Mahdi army and police.

A roadside bomb in Kirkuk intended for a U.S. patrol killed two civilians and wounded four others instead, and a suicide car bomber killed himself and three others.

In Latifiya, a roadside bomb blasted a minibus; one person was killed and four were injured.

A suicide car bomber in Mosul attacked a police checkpoint. Five people, including the bomber, were killed and 29 people were wounded.

Near Muqdadiya, mortar rounds fell on a village, killing three and wounding 14 others.

In Sinjar, 14 Kurdish farmers were found shot dead in a field.

Mortar rounds fell in Mahmudiya, killing one person and wounding four.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis