Friday: 78 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 58 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 12:45 a.m. EST, Mar. 31, 2008

At least 78 Iraqis were reported killed or found dead today and another 58 Iraqis were injured. The numbers include updates of yesterday’s casualty tally from a Baghdad marketplace bombing and a large number of dumped bodies in Mosul. Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed an American soldier.

In Baghdad, U.S. troops raided an al-Sadr office in the Hurriya neighborhood, killing a loyalist and a child and arresting two others. An air strike in the Sadr City district left 16 civilians dead and 14 more wounded. Also, the death toll from yesterday’s bombing in Baghdad rose by eight more deaths, from 76 to 82 killed; also, 138 were wounded, up by 38 deaths from the estimate of 100 yesterday.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, the Mahdi militia attacked an Iraqi Army post; U.S. troops arrived to stop the clashes, but not before one civilian was killed and another wounded. A mortar attack in the Baladiat area wounded three civilians. Also, 12 dumped bodies were found scattered in the capital.

Twenty-five bodies were discovered in Mosul. Also, police safely detonated a car bomb, and a pair of other bombs exploded without harming anyone.

Seven bodies were recovered in the Baquba region.

In Hilla, two policemen were killed and one wounded in a drive-by shooting.

A shopkeeper was shot to death in front of his Diwaniya store.

An Iraqi soldier was killed by a roadside bomb planted on a highway north of Khalis at al-Azim.

In Missan province, a civilian was killed, and a former Ba’athist was injured in separate shootings.

Iraqi police backed by U.S. forces, killed two gunmen and arrested six others south of Baquba.

A TV station in Ninewah was shelled, but no casualties were reported.

A Radio Sawa correspondent was fired upon outside his home in Basra; he survived the attack.

A U.S. Humvee was destroyed in Fallujah.

A bomb exploded without harming anyone in Kirkuk.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis