Wednesday: 3 GIs, 54 Iraqis Killed; 52 Iraqis Wounded, 48 Kidnapped

Updated at 12:40 a.m. EDT, Apr. 5, 2007

At least 54 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 52 were wounded in attacks. In three separate incidents, 48 more people have been kidnapped, and Baghdad’s overnight curfew was eased by two hours beginning today. Also, the Dept. of Defense announced that three more Americans soldiers were killed.

One American soldier died today from small arms fire in a southern part of the capital, while another GI died in an eastern neighborhood. A third soldier died yesterday from wounds he had received in a roadside bomb attack last September in Baghdad.

Twenty people were snatched from a fake checkpoint northeast of Baghdad near al-Nai village. In Latifiya, there is confusion over a mass kidnapping, but at least six people were abducted . Also, 22 shepherds were kidnapped from Nikhaib, and their flocks were stolen.

Armed clashes took place near Ramadi. The U.S. responded with an air strike that targeted four houses; 12 were killed and 15 wounded in the attack.

Near Hawija, 11 electrical workers were machine-gunned to death after gunmen stopped their mini-bus on a highway.

In Baghdad, authorities are taking advantage of increased security to shrink the number of hours Baghdad’s residents are required to stay off the streets. Meanwhile, a soccer coach escaped an assassination attempt after publicly complaining about violence. A car bomb in the Sadr City district killed one and wounded five; the area received mortar fire immediately following the blast. A motorist was killed in a drive-by shooting. Mortars fell in al-Obeidi where they injured two people and in Shurta where they wounded three persons. Two more people were injured by mortar fire in Jihad and Resala. In Jamiya, a car bomb wounded four people near a wholesale market. And, nine dumped bodies were found.

Near Baquba 10 people were killed, four policemen and six gunmen, during an attack on a police patrol and subsequent clash. Gunmen randomly shot at people in the Kobat area; one person was killed and seven, mostly children, were injured.

Two guards were wounded when a roadside bomb blasted the Mosul chief of police’s motorcade. In a separate roadside bomb attack, a policeman was killed and a civilian wounded.

West of Kut, a roadside bomb killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded three others yesterday.

Mortar rounds fell in Khalis where they killed a woman and injured three others, including a four-year-old boy.

Five bodyguards were wounded during a roadside bomb attack on the Ninewah police chief’s motorcade.

One Iraqi soldier was killed in Fallujah, while the U.S. base there was showered with mortar shells. Also, a Saddam-era army officer was gunned down as he was driving through central Fallujah.

A woman was stabbed to death in Hilla.

Two bullet-riddled and decapitated bodies were fished out of the Tigris at Suwara.

The Iraqi Army reported arresting 59 suspects in different locations throughout the country. U.S. captured another nine people, and 128 were detained in an event north of Baghdad.

In Diwaniya, a Coalition base received mortar fire while a U.S. patrol came under fire east of the city.

 

Compiled by Margaret Griffis

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.