Updated at 6:52 p.m. EST, Nov. 10. 2008
A complex bomb attack
in Baghdad left scores dead or injured in the capital and almost overshadowed
violence elsewhere. At least 45 Iraqis were killed and 101 more were wounded
across the country. Another vicious attack occurred in Baquba where a 13-year-old
girl undertook a suicide bombing against a group of formerly U.S.-backed security
personnel. No Coalition deaths were reported.
Details of a proposed U.S.-Iraqi
security pact were leaked
to the Associated Press; the latest draft was given to the Iraqis last week and
awaits their approval. Also, Latvia formally ended
their role in Iraq during a ceremony on Saturday.
Awakening Council (Sahwa)
members today received
their first paychecks issued by the Iraqi government. The U.S. government had
paid their salaries until October, when authority over the group was handed over
to the Iraqi government. The members are Sunni Arabs who were aligned with al-Qaeda
against the U.S. invasion, but traded loyalties last year after growing tired
of continued al-Qaeda attacks against Sunni civilians. The Sahwa program is heavily
credited, along with the Sadr ceasefire and the surge in U.S. troops, with reducing
violence dramatically.
In Baghdad, at least one car bomb drew victims
to as many as two
suicide bombers near a fine arts school in the Kasra neighborhood,
which is a Shi'ite enclave within the Sunni Adhamiyah neighborhood; at least 31
were killed and 71 Iraqis were wounded during the combined explosions. Three
people were wounded near Square 52 when a bomb blew up. One
dumped body was discovered. Coalition forces detained
11 suspects. Also, a weapon's cache was discovered
in Mansour.
A 13-year-old
girl blew herself up in a group of Awakening Council (Sahwa) members in Baquba.
She killed
seven members and wounded
as many as 18 other people.
In Mosul, four
people were wounded during multiple bomb blasts in the south. Gunmen wounded
a policeman in Mosul al-Jadida. Also, an Islamic State in Iraq member
was wounded during capture. Four other suspects were detained
separately.
Two
police commandos were killed and four more were wounded in a roadside bomb
blast near Samarra.
Gunmen killed
the owner of a check-cashing office in Hilla.
Three bombs were
defused in Amara.
Two bombs were safely detonated
in controlled explosions in Riyadh.
A Salah ad Din province
council member and his son were sentenced
to death after being found guilty of murdering the governor.
The mayor
of Talkeef personally distributed
over $68,000 to displaced Christian families. The town, just north of Mosul, is
heavily Christian. Many Christians fled there from Mosul last month, when violence
targeting them increased.
Suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bases
in Dahuk were targeted
by Turkish artillery.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis