Thursday: 3 GIs, 51 Iraqis Killed; 42 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 12:50 a.m. EST, Mar. 23, 2007

At least 51 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 42 were wounded during light violence. Three American servicemen were killed in separate incidents as well. Also, a mortar rocked a building where UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were giving a press conference.

The U.S. military reported that an American soldier and a Marine were killed in separate hostile fire attacks in Anbar province yesterday. Another GI was shot dead in the capital. During security operations, U.S. troops freed three hostages and arrested 44 suspects.

Basra was placed under curfew after clashes erupted in the southern city. The mayor’s house was among the places attacked by gunmen. The clashes appear to have broken out between groups from the Mahdi Army and Shi’ite Fadhila Party. Twelve militiamen were injured. In a possibly separate incident, gunmen attacked the home of a women’s’ activist and killed Tuhfah al-Bijari.

The Iraqi Army reported killing 16 suspects and detaining 198 during security operations throughout Iraq over the last 48 hours.

In Baghdad, four people were wounded during a series of blasts in the Ur neighborhood. A mortar injured five in al-Shurta. Two policemen were injured during security operations. One policeman was killed by a bomb blast in the Zaafaraniya area. In the Doura neighborhood two civilians were killed and another injured when gunmen opened fire on them. A bomb killed an Iraqi soldier and injured two others in Amariyah, and in a separate incident nearby a civilian was wounded in a bomb blast. One civilian was killed and three injured in crossfire during clashes between gunmen and Iraqi soldiers in Fadhil. Also, 25 bodies were recovered off the city streets; most were likely the victims of sectarian violence.

In Kirkuk, a car bomb killed one and injured seven others.

On a road south of Kirkuk, two civilians were shot and killed during an attack.

The body of a kidnapped woman who was a Baquba city official was found; gunmen had stormed her home last night.

At the al-Shuaabia jail, west of Basra, a riot broke out; five prisoners were injured.

A booby-trapped car was defused in Mosul before it could harm anyone.

Clashes broke out in Diwaniyah after 15 police officers were kidnapped.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis