U.S. soldier killed in Basra

August 22, 2010 - 03:17:52

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

A U.S. soldier was killed in the southern Iraq province of Basra on Sunday, the third fatality in August, upping to 4416 the total number of U.S. servicemen killed since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to the U.S. army in a statement.

“A U.S. soldier was killed today (Aug. 22) in Basra,” read the statement as received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The death has brought to 4416 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, including 46 in 2010 and150 in 2009.

Four were killed in July, eight in June, six in May, eight in April, seven in March, five in February and five in Jaunaury.

U.S. fatalities began to decrease since the beginning of 2009: sixteen soldiers were killed in January, 17 in February and nine in March.

The death toll, however, grew in April to reach 19 and then to 25 in May, including five shot down by a fellow soldier in a shooting incident inside a camp near Baghdad International Airport.

Fifteen were killed in June, including five in “non-combat” incidents.

Some 486 U.S. soldiers were killed in 2003, 849 in 2004, 846 in 2005, 822 in 2006 and a record high of 904 in 2007. The toll went down dramatically in 2008 to reach 314.

Still, November 2004, the month that saw fierce clashes between U.S. forces and gunmen in the restive city of al-Falluja, Diala province, is the month with the highest U.S. deaths: 137.

AmR (S)

U.S. patrol came under attack by thermal bomb in Kirkuk

August 20, 2010 - 12:14:29

KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq:

A U.S. vehicle patrol was attacked on Friday by a thermal bomb in central Kirkuk, without casualties, according to a senior security source.

“Unknown gunmen threw a thermal bomb on Friday afternoon (Aug. 20) on a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Khadraa neighborhood, central Kirkuk,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The forces was distributing food and aids to poor families in al-Khadraa neighborhood,” he added.

“Policemen cordoned off the region and started to search it, where they arrested two suspects,” the officer noted.

SH (P)

8 civilians wounded in 4 blasts in Baghdad

August 22, 2010 - 10:09:42

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Eight civilians were wounded on Sunday in four blasts throughout the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

“Four civilians were wounded today when a roadside bomb went off near the Dijla private college in the al-Saydiya neighborhood, southern Baghdad,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“One civilian was wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the al-Bayaa neighborhood, southwestern Baghdad,” the source explained.

“Two civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the al-Taji neighborhood, northern Baghdad,” the source added.

“One civilian was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off,” the source noted.

Earlier, eyewitnesses said that traffic has been jammed in the Iraqi capital after finding a number of roadside bombs in different places of Baghdad on Sunday.

MH (P)/SR

Policeman killed, another wounded in clashes with gunmen in Mosul

August 21, 2010 - 04:01:27

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq:

A policeman was killed and another wounded in clashes with gunmen in western Mosul city on Saturday, according to a police source in Ninewa province.

“Clashes erupted between gunmen and policemen in a checkpoint in the area of Bab al-Bayd, western Mosul, leaving one policeman killed and another injured,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The gunmen later escaped within the alleys of the area,” the source added.

Mosul, the capital city of the violence-stricken multi-ethnic province of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad.

AmR (P)

Cop killed in IED blast in Kirkuk

August 21, 2010 - 03:35:26

KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq:

A policeman was killed in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to his vehicle in southwestern Kirkuk on Saturday, a source from the city’s Joint Coordination Center (JCC) said.

“An IED attached to a policeman’s vehicle went off in 1 Huzayran neighborhood, southwestern Kirkuk, leaving him dead instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The victim used to work at the communications department of the Kirkuk Police Academy,” he added, not giving further details.

Meanwhile, Brigadier Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), said a force from the department arrested today (Aug. 21) in accordance with Article 4 of the law on terrorism 40-year-old Abbas Allawi Hussein, a local resident of al-Debis district, Qoshqaya village, (45 km) west of Kirkuk, on charges of belonging to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

“The force seized a Scania lorry in the arrested man’s possession and handed him over to the Kirkuk Anti-Crime Department for investigations,” Qader added.

The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

AmR (S)