148 Dead, 41 Wounded, Including US Soldier, in Saturday Iraq Violence

Updated at 5:00 p.m. EDT, Oct. 8, 2006

In another violent day in Iraq, at least 148 have died and 41 have been wounded. Among the deaths is that of an American soldier who was killed by enemy fire in the northern town of Baiji and the captain of the Iraqi handball team. Also in the news, the Department of Defense released the number of U.S. troops wounded during September. At 776 injured, it was the fourth highest monthly figure since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

In Baghdad, at least 51 corpses have been discovered, many in the Sunni western half. In addition to those, police found five bodies in the Sadr City district; they were shot and bore signs of torture. Another seven bodies, thought to be victims of sectarian death squads, were also found. Two bodies were found floating in the Tigris River in the Karrada neighborhood and three more downstream at Suweira.

Elsewhere in the capital, gunmen killed two and wounded one worker at a bakery in the relatively upscale neighborhood of Mansour. Two separate explosions injured eight Iraqis. A roadside bomb in the Dora area took the life of one policeman. Also, a roadside bomb targeting an American patrol killed one civilian.

In Baquba, two bound and tortured bodies were discovered. A mortar also landed on the main bus station; one civilian was killed and eight were wounded. Four people were killed in separate incidents involving gunmen. Iraqi forces also killed two gunmen, possibly al-Qaida suspects, in a general roundup of suspects.

Sheikh Abdel Sattar Baziya in Anbar province said tribal fighters had killed 34 foreign fighters and captured 40 others during a week-long drive.

In Khan Bani Saad, a man was killed when a roadside bomb blasted his car.

At an Iraqi army checkpoint in Tal Afar, a suicide car bomber killed at least 17 and wounded 13. Four soldiers were among the dead and another four among the wounded.

Killing two and wounding four, mortar rounds struck a home in Iskandariya.

In Mosul, gunmen killed two, including a woman, in separate incidents.

Near the Syrian border at Sinjar, two Yezidi laborers were killed and two others wounded by gunmen.

In Baaj, gunmen killed a contractor and two of his employees.

A gunman attacking an army checkpoint in Ishaqi was killed. Four soldiers were wounded in the attack.

In Mahawil, the child of a Shi’te tribal sheihk was injured by a bomb blast.

Compiled by Margaret Griffis