Friday: 44 Iraqis Killed, 99 Wounded

Updated at 11:10 p.m. EDT, Sept. 12, 2008

At least 44 Iraqis were killed and 99 more were wounded during an active prayer day. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, peaceful demonstrators in Baghdad and Kufa protested against a U.S-Iraqi security agreement. Also, the U.S. has reached its 2008 Iraqi refugee goal and expects 17,000 more refugees to arrive in next year.

Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrated against a proposed U.S-Iraqi security agreement. They believe the agreement will mean permanent occupation. The protesters remained peaceful, in accordance with a cease-fire imposed on them by the cleric last summer. The cease-fire was tested earlier this year throughout the southern provinces when Iraqi troops targeting Mahdi followers entered Basra. Weeks of fighting led to the deaths of hundreds, particularly in Sadr City, and ended only after intense negotiation lead to a bilateral truce. Also, a U.S. response to the latest Iraqi demands concerning the agreement is expected within a couple days.

In Dujail, a car bomb in a commercial district killed 32 people and 60 more were wounded as they were shopping for their Iftar meals. The Iftar meal comes after dusk and breaks the daytime fasting that Muslims participate in during Ramadan.

A suicide bomber near a Shi'ite mosque in Sinjar killed three people and wounded 15 others as they were leaving Friday prayers this afternoon.

The bodies of two girls and two Iraqi soldiers were found near Ghalibyah. They may have been there about a year and a half.

In Baghdad, a bomb at a checkpoint in Mansour left five wounded. A man tossed a hand grenaded at shoppers in Jihad; thirteen of them were wounded while buying supplies for their Iftar meals. In Binouk, a bomb failed to leave casualites. A body was found in Ur. Also, Coalition forces detained two Kata’ib Hezbollah suspects.

In Mosul, a bomb blast injured an Iraqi soldier. Gunmen injured a traffic officer and civilian at a Farouq area checkpoint. A police officer was wounded by a roadside bomb explosion. Also, a suspect was captured.

A woman was found stabbed to death in Haswa.

Gunmen in Mussayab wounded a boy.

A bomb targeting British troops in Basra injured a civilian instead.

In Kut, a boy was freed and his kidnappers were arrested. Two other suspects, carrying 35 roadside bombs, were detained separately.

U.S and Iraqi forces killed two suspects and detained two more in the Tigris river valley.

A weapons cache was found in Makhmour.

Cholera has now been confirmed in Karbala.

Six suspects were arrested across Diyala province.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis