Sunday: 2 GIs, 69 Iraqis Killed; 74 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 11:54 p.m. EDT, Oct. 14, 2007

Due to the holiday news blackout, a significant suicide bombing yesterday in Samarra went unreported until today. Overall, at least 69 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 74 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Most were civilians. Two American soldiers were reported killed in separate events.

An MND-B soldier was killed and three were wounded today during combat in southern Baghdad. Meanwhile, a Task Force Lightning soldier was killed in a non-combat incident in Ninewah province.

A car bomb killed at least 18 people and wounded 37 others near a mosque in Samarra. The bomber had been shot to death by police but still managed to detonate his explosives. After the explosion, gunmen clashed with police. In a separate incident, a suicide bomber attacked a police commando station; four police commandos were killed and nine were wounded. A gunfight also followed that explosion.

In Baghdad, Nine people were killed and 13 more were wounded, including women and children, during a car bombing near a Shi’ite shrine in Kadhamiya; a separate bomb had been found and defused in the same area earlier. An Iraqi correspondent for the Washington Post was shot dead while in the Saidiyah neighborhood. Also, five dumped bodies were recovered.

In the village of Baghdadi near Ramadi, a suicide car bomber killed four members of a police major’s family and wounded eight others.

Ten decomposed bodies were recovered from a village near Baquba. Two bodies were found in the al-Katoun area.

In Haswa, the Iraqi army arrived to quell clashes between Mahdi army members and Sunni tribesmen. Four gunmen were killed and 17 more were detained. Civilian casualties are unspecified.

Two bodies were found in al-Hadad.

Guards protecting an oil pipeline in al-Zubair, near Basra, found gunmen planting a bomb. During the ensuing clash, one guard was killed and a second was wounded.

In Riyadh, gunmen killed three Sunni Arabs and wounded two more during a drive-by.

An Iraqi soldier was killed and four more were wounded during a roadside bombing in Khan Bani Saad.

Gunmen killed a pedestrian walking outside an al-Sadr office in Hashimiya, near Hilla.

A farmer was killed in Jurf al-Sakhar as he was trying to remove a bomb placed under his tractor.

A body bearing gunshot and torture marks was found in Qarahanjeer.

Pope Benedict asked for the quick return of two Catholic priests who were kidnapped from a funeral in Mosul yesterday.

Gunmen blew up a bridge in Khalis.

In Ninewah province, 267 detainees, who were found to be not guilty, were released during Ramadan.

U.S. troops captured five suspects near Taji.

Also, more witnesses near the Turkish border have reported that Turkey is shelling Iraqi locations.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis