Thursday: 59 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 42 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 3:25 p.m. EST, Dec. 21, 2006

Bombings rattled Baghdad again today where at least two suicide bombers killed over a dozen people. Overall, at least 59 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 42 wounded in violent incidents. Also, the U.S. military reported that three more U.S. servicemembers were killed, bringing the number of GI deaths in December to 69 servicemembers. Also a Polish soldier was wounded in Kut.

According to military sources, a Marine died today due to "enemy action" in Anbar province; a roadside bomb killed one American soldier in Baghdad yesterday; and a soldier died Tuesday due to "enemy action," also in Anbar province. A polish soldier was shot in the arm not far from the base in Kut. Also, Iraqi soldiers reported killing twelve militia members across Iraq.

In the capital, a suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded 21 at a police recruitment center in eastern Baghdad. In the Amil district, a suicide car bomb killed two people and wounded two others. Another three were killed and seven wounded by a pair of bombs in the Kathmiya neighborhood. A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Adhamiya wounded a civilian instead, and mortars fell on a neighborhood just south of Baghdad, killing two women and a child. Also, the Olympic cycling coach, Mahoud Ahmed Fulayih, was found dead two days after he was kidnapped and five days after he had returned from the Asian Games in Qatar.

A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Mosul wounded two civilians. Gunmen killed a man, and a body bearing gunshot wounds was discovered. At least four others were gunned down. (Also, medical authorities reported that 55 dumped bodies were found so far during December.)

In Irbil, a suicide car bomber drove into a checkpoint where he killed one soldier and wounded four others.

Two policemen were killed in Baiji when a suicide car bomber attacked a checkpoint.

Five bodies were found in Kut. Two were decapitated and three were fished out of the Tigris River.

Gunmen stormed a pharmacy in the Diyala province; they killed the pharmacist and his brother.

In Kirkuk, police Colonel Adnan Mohammed escaped an assassination attempt when a roadside bomb blasted his convoy; two guards were wounded. A man and a woman were gunned down late Wednesday. Also, a civilian was killed.

A former Baath Party member was assassinated in Karbala.

Police Colonol Ahmed Saleh was gunned down late yesterday in Tikrit.

And three women were injured in Ramadi late yesterday when mortars landed near a police station.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis