Friday: 5 GIs, 74 Iraqis Killed; 48 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 1:34 a.m. EST, Mar. 24, 2007

At least 74 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 48 Iraqis were wounded. Several notable events also took place. An assassination attempt on Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie killed nine people and injured the deputy prime minister. The US military reported on the deaths of five U.S. servicemembers, and Iran captured 15 British servicemen who were patrolling Iraqi waters.

The U.S. military reported on the deaths of five servicemen: A Marine died during combat operations in Anbar province yesterday, while a bomb blast killed an American soldier in Baghdad. A soldier was shot dead in Balad on Wednesday, and a roadside bomb killed a servicemember on Tuesday. Another GI serving in Iraq died of injuries received in an accident on Wednesday.

U.S. troops chasing gunmen accidentally killed a father and his two sons and injured their mother in Hibhib. Meanwhile, British troops in Basra killed a civilian and wounded two others during security operations there.

Fifteen British naval personnel were seized in Iraqi waters by neighboring Iran. The sailors had just completed an inspection on a merchant ship. While the British are currently treating the incident as a misunderstanding, they are demanding the sailors be returned immediately. Coincidentally, the UN Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow on a resolution that will impose sanctions on Iran for continuing their uranium enrichment programs.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie, who is a Sunni Arab, escaped an assassination attempt at his home in Baghdad. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside an adjacent mosque where al-Zobaie was attending to his daily prayers. A car bomb also exploded at the compound. Nine people, including an advisor, were killed and 15 others, including al-Zobaie were wounded.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, six were killed and 19 wounded during a car bombing at a used car lot in the al-Habibiya neighborhood within Sadr City. In Doura, two people were killed injured in a roadside bomb blast. Also, 26 dumped bodies were found scattered throughout the capital.

The bodies of a woman and her teenage daughter were found in Diwaniya. The bodies of two policemen were also discovered yesterday.

Four bodies were recovered in Mosul; two belonged to teenagers.Also, the airport was shelled, and a roadside bomb injured a policeman.

A roadside bomb in Yusufiya killed a policeman and injured two others.

The bodies of a police lieutenant colonel and his driver were found near Tikrit in al-Door.

Two policemen were killed during a bomb blast in Fallujah.

A bomber ran away from his car in Najaf after being stopped at a checkpoint; he detonated the car bomb, which injured three policemen, by remote control.

The province director of civil defense, Colonel Ahmed Kadhim Jawad, was killed in Khalis. Two civilians were injured by random gunfire.

In Al Bu Ajeel village, gunmen stormed a home where they killed four members of the same family, including women and an infant.

No casualties were reported after a bomb was detonated in Kirkuk. Southwest of town, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and three more wounded during an ambush.

Eight gunmen were killed in Diyala; 30 others were arrested.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis