Friday: 1 GI, 45 Iraqis Killed; 36 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 6:40 p.m. EDT, Aug. 24, 2007

A U.S. security operation in Baghdad is the focus of contradictory reports as to whether civilians and/or gunmen were killed in the incident. Overall, 45 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 36 others wounded in violence throughout Iraq. Also, a Task Force Lightning soldier succumbed to his wounds hours after an explosion; four other soldiers were hurt in the blast.

In Baghdad, at least 13 people died and at least 17 were wounded in overnight clashes between gunmen and U.S. troops in the Shula district; the U.S. military says eight gunmen were killed, but local chieftains claim that civilian families were among the casualties. An IED in Mansour killed 1 Iraqi soldier and wounded two others. Nine unidentified bodies were found scattered mostly in western neighborhoods. A Science and Technology ministry undersecretary and his driver were released several days after being kidnapped. Also, joint U.S.-Iraqi forces laid seige to a mosque in Zaafaraniyah Friday night and were in the process of hunting for gunmen.

U.S. forces killed seven suspects and arrested four in Tarmiyah.

A large suspected al-Qaeda attack in Samarra left three dead and nine injured, including children.

In Diwaniya, a drive-by shooting left two construction workers dead. A bullet-riddled body was found.

A barber was killed in a drive-by shooting in Hawija. A body bearing gunshot and torture wounds was discovered.

Police found a body in Riyadh; it bore torture marks and gunshot wounds.

A Numaniya policeman was shot and killed.

Two bodies, one belonging to a university professor, were found in Mosul. One civilian was killed and three more were wounded during a mortar attack.

Muqtada al-Sadr’s office in al-Khidra came under heavy fire, but no casualties were reported.

A Kirkuk housewife was kidnapped.

A U.S. detainee died of renal failure at Camp Cropper.

Four militants were arrested when they were caught planting explosives in Muqdadiyah.

Yesterday in Mansuriyat al-Jabal, a mortar attack left three people with injuries.

A drive-by shooting in Khalidiya left one dead and two wounded.

A member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council was killed in Hindiya yesterday.

No casualties were reported after a roadside bomb blasted a U.S. vehicle in Haditha; five suspects were arrested.

Also, the Diyala chief of operations reported that security missions there have resulted in the deaths of 237 suspects and the arrest of 300 more since mid-June.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis