Wednesday: 3 US Soldiers, 36 Iraqis Killed; 17 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 10:35 p.m. EST, Dec. 26, 2007

At least 31 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 17 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. Seventeen of the dead were from a mass grave near Baquba. Meanwhile, Turkey continues to send warplanes into Iraq, but the only casualties were reported on the Turkish side of the border. Also, three U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents.

Two MND-North soldiers were killed and three more were wounded during a small arms attack in Ninevah province today. Another U.S. soldier died in a non-combat incident yesterday in Baghdad.

The Baquba offices of the 1920 Revolution Brigades were bombed, killing four militia members and wounding four more. This comes a day after a suicide bomber attacked a funeral for a member accidentally shot by U.S. troops just hours earlier. The Sunni group is now aligned with Coalition troops in order to fight al-Qaeda within Iraq.

The Iraqi army discovered 17 decomposing bodies in a town near Baquba. Dozens of bodies have been found in mass graves in the Diyala province, which continues to be among the most violent of the provinces.

In Baghdad, four dumped bodies were recovered. A car bomb at a petrol station in Bab al-Muadham left an unknown number of casualties. No casualties were reported during shelling in the Doura district either. Also, two security personnel were wounded during operations that netted 16 suspects.

Gunmen in Buhriz attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint where they killed two soldiers and wounded nine more.

A gunman was killed during a clash in al-Shurqat.

Police discovered a group of men planting a roadside bomb in Tuz Khormato and killed one of them.

In Mosul, a roadside bomb left in a garbage killed three children and wounded two more who were playing nearby.

Two corpses were found in Latifiya.

A tribal leader was gunned down in Baiji.

In Jalawla, a member of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan was kidnapped from his home.

Coalition forces killed two suspects, one being a 1920 Revolution Brigade member, during an operation in Baquba. Iraqi forces in Basra found a spy plane, ammunition and documentary films during a raid that netted five suspects. Also, nine suspects were detained in Hawija.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis