Thursday: 3 GIs, 116 Iraqis Killed; 76 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 11:25 p.m. EDT, August 2, 2007

At least 116 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 76 more were wounded in the latest attacks. The Iraqi government said that civilian deaths increased dramatically in July. Also, three GIs were killed in separate events.

A 13th SC(E) Soldier was killed and two others were wounded when an IED blasted their patrol yesterday in Basra. Another soldier died on Tuesday during a small arms attack in Baghdad. The third soldier was killed today during combat operations in the capital. Also, an Australian soldier was wounded in southern Iraq.

In Baghdad, 24 bodies believed to be victims of sectarian violence were found scattered throughout the city. U.S. forces killed four suspects and detained 22 others, while the Iraqi army killed 11 suspects and arrested 35 more. No casualties were reported in a mortar attack in al-Rustamiyah. A manager at the Ministry of Industry was shot by gunmen. A sniper killed a man in the al-Sink marketplace. In Adhamiyah, a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded another. Also, a mortar barrage in Yarmouk killed three and wounded seven at the Iraqi Islamic Party's headquarters.

A mass grave containing 17 bodies was found near Muhbabiya. The bodies belonged to women, children and elderly Sunnis.

Fifteen people were killed and 17 wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a police recruitment center in Hibhib. Also, officials discovered the bodies of 14 men left in a poultry farm; the men were from Saadiya al-Shatt.

In Kirkuk, an Iraqi soldier was killed during an IED attack west of the city. Three civilians were injured when a blast hit a military uniform shop. An IED targeting a police commissioner’s motorcade failed to cause casualties. A policeman and two people were injured when gunmen shot at them. Also, 117 suspects were detained during a security raid. Four people were injured when a bomb hidden in rubbish was detonated.

A farmer was killed and two others were injured when an explosive device blasted their vehicle on a highway in the al-Rashad area between Kirkuk and Tirkrit. Five bodies belonging to a group of brothers who had been kidnapped a day earlier were found. Their seven-year-old brother was found as well, but he was physically unharmed.

A Shi’ite civil servant was killed and four sons were kidnapped during a home invasion in al-Wahda.

Near Kut, an electrical company guard was shot and killed.

In Mosul, Iraqi forces killed three suspects, including the al-Qaeda "emir of Mosul." Mortars killed one resident and wounded four others.

During clashes between gunmen and tribesmen in Jbela, three people were killed and two wounded. Two Iraqi soldiers were injured when a roadside bomb interrupted as they were responding to the incident.

A girl was killed and six other children injured during a mortar barrage in Balad.

Mortar shelling in Baiji killed three people.

Two bodies were found in Suleimaniyah.

One policeman was injured during a mortar attack in Basra. British troops fired upon an Iranian televsion crew but no casualties were reported.

In Tal Afar, two people were killed and 22 wounded during a car bomb attack.

The Iraqi army killed the defense minister of the Islamic State in Iraq during an incident in Diyala province.

Near Aziziya, a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded another.

Turkish forces bombed two Assyrian Christian villages near the border in northern Iraq.

A U.S. raid in Dhuluiya left one person dead and another injured.

Several roadside bombs in Nasariya caused no causualties.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis