Saturday: 79 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 3:05 p.m. EST, Dec. 27, 2006

At least 79 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 26 were wounded in violent acts. Also, military authorities have reported the deaths of three GIs in separate events. December has already proven to be one of the most violent months since the occupation of Iraq by Coalition forces. At least 77 GIs have been killed alongside the hundreds of Iraqis who have died.

In Coalition news, two American servicemembers were killed today in separate roadside bomb attacks. One soldier was killed southwest of the capital and the second was killed southeast of Baghdad. A third soldier died of non-combat-related wounds in Logistics Support Area Anaconda.

A militia member was killed during a raid in Ramadi; several others were arrested. British troops came under attack in Hayaniya; no British servicemembers were injured, but three gunmen were killed. Also, a rocket attack in Baquba, which residents blame on U.S. forces, killed six people and wounded six others; the U.S. is looking into the incident, but otherwise has made no comments.

Forty-seven bodies were discovered in Baghdad; many bearing the usual signs of torture that are often found on dumped corpses. Also, a roadside bomb left two Iraqi soldiers dead.

In Samawa, six people were killed and 19 wounded during clashes between Iraqi army and militiamen loyal to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Four of the dead were policemen.

A roadside bomb outside Hawija killed two civilians.

Police found the bodies of an Iraqi intelligence officer and an Iraqi protection services member in Diwaniya.

Gunmen killed a policemen in Samarra.

Militiamen killed an Iraqi soldier in the small town of Dour.

In Mosul, tribal leader Wathaah Abid-Rabbuh was assassinated; he lead the mostly Sunni Jubour tribe. A Kurdish civilian and a third person were gunned down in a separate incident.

An Iraqi civilian was killed and another wounded by a bomb on the Kirkuk-Mosul highway.

Near Manzala, a bomb left two people dead.

And two Iraqi soldiers died during a mortar attack near Falluja.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis