Updated at 1:30 a.m. EST, Feb. 17, 2008
A U.S. general warned
that, despite a drawdown, there may be more troops in Iraq by next summer than
it did before the surge. At least 22 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another
10 were wounded in the latest attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported;
however, another incident involving U.S. troops firing upon Awakening Council
members was reported.
U.S. forces killed
three Awakening Council members who were attending a meeting in Jurf al-Sakhar.
The Awakening Councils consist of Iraqi tribesmen who have turned away from al-Qaeda
and are now working alongside U.S. troops; however, a group of them in Jurf al-Sakhar
turned
in their resignations after the latest friendly fire incident.
Five
bodies, bearing torture marks and gunshot wounds, were found east of Ramadi.
Another four
bodies were discovered southwest of the city.
An Iraqi
army soldier was killed during an attack at a Baquba checkpoint. In
a separate incident, five suspects were arrested.
In Kirkuk, a car bomb injured
two policemen in Tiseen. In al-Shurjah, a policeman
was wounded during an IED attack. A bomb in central Kirkuk injured
two more policemen.
Two
policemen were wounded near Buhriz.
A child
was wounded as he picked up a roadside bomb planted in Mahaweel.
Samarra is under a curfew
as renovation work on the shrines of Imams Ali al-Hadi and Hassan al-Askari is
carried out. Also, an Awakening
Council member was gunned down.
Two
policemen were injured during an armed attack in Basra. Another police
officer was unharmed when
a device exploded near him.
A body
was found near Hilla.
A car bomb was defused
in Mosul.
Twenty detainees were released
in Fallujah when authorities were unable to find any links to al-Qaeda.
Another fifteen who had been arrested for not carrying proper identification were
also released.
In
Baghdad, two
dumped bodies were recovered.
A
man and his son were killed when they entered their booby-trapped home in
al-Salam.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis