Thursday: 73 Killed, 58 Wounded Across Iraq

Updated at 11:00 p.m. EDT, Oct. 5, 2006

In the last day, at least 73 Iraqis have been reported killed and another 58 wounded, including the discovery of at least 30 bodies throughout the capital. There are also reports that Abu Ayyub al-Masri was among four killed in an air strike in Haditha earlier this week. U.S. officials denied reports, but admitted DNA tests were being conducted.

Thirty bodies were found around Baghdad. Most of them were shot and showed signs of torture. In addition to those, gunmen killed five and wounded six at a cafe in the Zaafaraniya district. A car bomb in the Hurriya district of northwest Baghdad killed two more and wounded eight. Also, Twenty day-laborers in Tayaran Square were wounded by a car bomb blast while they waited for work and three construction workers were wounded in a separate incident in the heart of Baghdad.

In Mahmudiya, Iraqi police found the bodies of two people who were shot to death. Elsewhere in town, two policemen were injured when a roadside bomb blasted their patrol unit. Just outside of Mahmudiya, mortar rounds fell on the home of a man; police said he was killed and five members of his family were wounded.

In Baquba, gunmen killed a police officer and injured another. Militants separately shot dead two civilians in the al-Moallemeen and al-Tahrir districts. A child was killed and his two brothers were injured by bomb planted near their home. Also, two tortured bodies were found in the al-Yarmouk district.

In Al-Baghdadi, Police Brigadier Shaaban al-Obeidi succumbed to wounds received when a roadside bomb blasted his convoy earlier in the day.

During clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents in Ramadi, four people were killed and six wounded.

Hospital officials and other witnesses reported that gunmen attacked a home in Samawa. Three women were shot dead. They also slashed the throat of a baby girl.

In Ukashat, police found the bodies of five people who were shot and tortured.

Gunmen in Falluja killed two people, including a policeman.

Near Kirkuk, one body with gunshot wounds to the head was discovered.

Several mortar rounds fell on a small village near the town of Balad Ruz. Two people were killed and five wounded.

The bodies of four people, including one woman, were found floating in the Tigris River at Sweera. They were shot and possibly tortured.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis