Thursday: 5 GIs, 3 Britons, 74 Iraqis Killed; 24 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 11:59 p.m. EDT July 19, 2007

Five American and three British servicemembers were killed in separate events today and yesterday. Meanwhile, at least 74 Iraqis were killed and 24 were wounded. Also, two Turkish soldiers were killed and six were wounded when Kurdish rebels staged a cross border attack a day after the Turkish military bombarded targets in Iraq.

Today, a Task Force Marne soldier was killed in a small arms incident near Rushdi Mullah. Also, four MND-B soldiers were killed, along with their Iraqi interpreter, during an IED explosion yesterday in eastern Baghdad. Three British soldiers were killed during a mortar attack in Basra.

In Baghdad, 17 dumped bodies were found scattered around town. A roadside bomb in the Kadhimiya killed two people and wounded four others. The casualty figures from a mortar attack on a hospital yesterday increased by one death. Also, gunmen blew up a minaret at a Sunni mosque in al-Atibaa; two dumped bodies were discovered near the mosque. In Mansour, bomb place inside a policeman's car killed him and injured his wife and two children. Last night, U.S. troops killed two civilians in Adhamiyha. An Iraqi army brigadier was wounded during a shooting in Qadisiya. Also, the Association of Muslim scholars reported that police commandos beheaded two men and killed a third in the Amiriya district.

U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 15 gunmen during clashes that took place in orchards near Muqdadiyah.

Eight bodies, including two belonging to women, were found in Mosul. A Kurdish politician was killed, and a bodyguard working for a Sunni politician was shot and killed in a separate incident.

Gunmen stormed a home in Hawija and killed an Iraqi soldier.

Three civilians were injured during an attack on an ambulance in Kirkuk.

No casualties in two bridge bombings in Haqlaniya.

In Iskandariya, the body of the chief of police and those belonging to six bodyguards were discovered a day after they were kidnapped.

Yesterday, a roadside bomb killed two policemen and one civilian in Ba'quba. Also, two civilians were killed and two were wounded during a drive-by shooting.

Gunmen blew up the offices of the Shaheed Al-Mihrab Islamic Foundation in Kut and wounded two people yesterday.

In Nasariya yesterday, three policemen were killed and another was wounded during a small arms attack. Also, a policeman was killed in a case of friendly fire.

A roadside bomb in Suq al-Shiyoukh yesterday killed a policeman and wounded eight others. A mortar shell also killed a child.

The body of a security officer was found in Dhi Qar.

Kurdish rebels along the border killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded six others during a bomb attack near the Turkish town of Cukurca. Yesterday, the Turkish military shelled Kurdish rebel locations inside Iraq.

Also, American soldiers are accused of leaving an Australian contractor for dead and refusing to provide helicopter transport for the seriously wounded man last month because of his nationality. A Marine was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy charges in a murder that took place last year. And, two more GIs were charged with murder in a separate incident.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis