Friday: 72 Iraqis Killed, 68 Wounded

Updated at 11:55 p.m. EDT, June 8, 2007

In an unusually active Friday, 72 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 68 wounded in violent attacks. Two significant bombings occurred in Qurna and Daqqua, while the family of a police official was slaughtered in Baquba. No foreign casualties were reported.

In Baghdad, gunmen bombed a mosque in Bayaa, but no casualties were reported. Mortars landed in Bayaa and Amil without causing injuries. One person was wounded in Salhiya during a mortar attack. Seven bodies were found scattered in five neighborhoods.

In Baquba, gunmen attacked the home of a senior police officer and killed 14 members of the household. There are conflicting reports as to the identities of the killed. Among those believed to be dead are the officer’s wife, other relatives and several bodyguards. Several people were kidnapped and may be among the dead. The officer was directly responsible for the death of three al-Qaeda fighters recently and this may have been a retaliatory attack.

East of Baquba in Doura last night, Sheik Jabar Ahmed Al Timimi was killed when gunmen attacked a police station. One policeman was killed and another injured.

A bus packed with explosives was detonated at a station in Qurna, near Basra. As many as 12 people were killed and 33 wounded during the incident.

Twenty-four people were killed and 30 wounded during bomb attacks on two Shi’ite mosques in Daqquq, just as Friday prayers were ending.

The bodies of four kidnap victims from Ramadi were found in Fallujah.

South of Baquba, a roadside bomb killed three high-ranking police officials from two smaller cities in the area. They had been on their way to a meeting in Baquba. The third officer died at the hospital.

A Iraqi soldier and his two-year-old daughter were killed in a drive-by shooting in Kirkuk. Last night, a guard was injured when gunmen fired at the PUK headquarters.

One suspect was killed during a combined U.S.-Iraqi security raid in Anbar province.

No casualties were reported during Turkish shelling on northern Iraqi territories.

Three civilians were injured during an explosion in Hawija.

In al-Ashar, the head of police was gunned down in the streets today.

Gunman killed two civilians in Khalis, while mortars rained down on a nearby village in a separate attack.

The governor of Babil province escaped an assassination attempt while traveling to Baghdad.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis