Updated 9:50 p.m. EST, Nov. 22, 2006
As Iraq formally renewed diplomatic ties with neighboring Syria today, at least 144 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 55 more were injured. No foreign deaths were reported, but Coalition forces killed six in separate incidents around Baghdad. There was also one failed political assassination attempt.
U.S. warplanes launched an air strike early today in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. Three people were killed and 15 others were wounded in the attack; a small boy was among the dead. In a separate event elsewhere in Baghdad, Coalition forces killed three gunmen during a raid. Also, rockets struck two British bases in Basra, but no casualties were reported.
In the capital, parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani’s car was blasted by a car bomb; however, he was not in the vehicle, and no one was injured. A separate car bomb intended for a police patrol killed a civilian and wounded nine others. Another Iraqi was killed and three more wounded in a car bomb attack in the Amel neighborhood. And a bomb in a minibus killed one and injured 15 others. The general manager of the Health Ministry was shot dead on Palestine Street. Gunmen killed seven students on a minibus in the Saedea area.
In Tikrit, 40 unclaimed bodies were laid to rest.
Gunmen killed 11 in separate events across Baquba, including one person just outside of town, and police found 10 bodies.
Mayor Ali al-Shimari was shot dead and four guards were wounded in Hibhib. A truck driver was killed as well.
Gunmen killed an off-duty police officer in Mosul, and at least three others. Seven bystanders were injured during clashes between gunmen and police. In a separate clash that followed a bomb explosion, four more people were injured. A roadside bomb killed one policeman. Also, police found two bodies in separate neighborhoods.
Gunmen in Hawija killed a policeman on his way to work.
In Mandli, three civilians were killed by a bomb believed to have been left over from the Iran-Iraq War.
Mortars fell on Hay al-Amil, killing three civilians and wounded another.
Three civilians were killed and another wounded in Balad Ruz when gunmen opened fire on the main road.
Six bodies were found in Babil province.
And at least 44 tortured bodies were found dump in central Iraq, including seven bodies pulled from the Tigris River and 29 in Risafa.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
