Tuesday: 3 GIs, 31 Iraqis Killed; 31 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 12:25 a.m. EDT, Oct. 31, 2007

Baghdad took the brunt of today’s violence with a number of bombings occurring throughout the city. Overall, 31 Iraqis were killed and 31 more were injured there and in other parts of Iraq. Three MND-C soldiers were killed during an IED attack southeast of the capital as well. Also, the Iraqi cabinet drafted a law that would end immunity from prosecution for foreign security contractors.

The deputy governor in Basra admitted that the security situation in the city is out of control. News reports out of the city have been scant for months, especially since the British were forced to pull out of the city, so the extent of the violence there is unknown.

In Baghdad, five unidentified bodies were discovered. Mortars wounded two people in the Mansour district. In Zayouna, a gunman lobbed a grenade at a group of street sweepers, killing one and injuring six others. A bomb planted in a minibus killed one person and wounded four in central Baghdad’s Allawi bus terminal. A bomb on a minibus in eastern Baghdad wounded two people. The editor of a new weekly was murdered over the weekend. Also, two gunmen were wounded at an Iraqi checkpoint, and a young female hostage was freed after being found hidden in the trunk of their car.

U.S. forces fired upon a car in Kut, killing one civilian and injuring a second passenger. The reasons for the attack are unknown.

The body of an elderly farmer was found near al-Shahimiya a day after he was kidnapped.

Four policemen were killed and eight others were wounded during a car bombing in Samarra.

Four bodies were discovered in and near Mosul. Also, an electrical employee was gunned down, while a fifth body was found.

In Kirkuk, a body bearing the usual gunshot and torture marks was found. An off-duty policeman was killed in a drive-by shooting.

Gunmen killed a police lieutenant yesterday in Najaf. The body of a second policeman was found in the al-Jamiya neighborhood.

Near Tikrit, mortars killed a woman and wounded five others.

U.S. forces killed four suspects and detained 17 during operation over the last two days in central and northern Iraq. Two suspects were killed and seven more were arrested during joint operation in Baquba. In Hawija, 27 suspects were detained.

In Turkey, three soldiers and six Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are reported dead from continued fighting. The Turkish government is also weighing its option concerning an economic attack. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region is heavily reliant on power and commodities coming from Turkey.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis