65 Iraqis, US Soldier Killed, Including 14 Executed by Death Squads, in an Initial News Report for August 24, 2007

The Iraq News Agency (INA) reported the following news on August 24, 2007.

- 11 US soldiers were injured in an attack on a US base in Baghdad.

- 12 bodies of Iraqis executed by death squads were found in Baghdad.

- An explosion in the Green Zone led to many deaths and injuries.

- 14 Iraqis were killed or injured by a car bomb explosion in Mosul.

Sotaliraq newspaper reported:

- A policeman was killed in Al-Nu'amaniya, in Wasit.

- 13 Iraqis were killed, 15 were injured, including civilians, in a US air strikes on Al-Shu'alah neighborhood targeting Al-Mahdi Army.

- 2 bodies of Iraqis executed by death squads were found in Mosul university.

- Former Iraqi President, Abdul Rahman Areh, died in Amman today.

***

The AP US news agency reported the deaths of 38 Iraqis and one US soldier.

An AP photo caption today read: Family members carry the coffin of Najma Abud in the neighborhood of Shula, northwest Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 24, 2007. Najma Abud died after early morning clashes between U.S. soldiers and armed men thought to be al-Mahdi army fighters. At least 6 people died and 15 were wounded, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed).

AP Headline: 60 Suspected al-Qaida in Iraq Fighters Assault Police Checkpoints in Samarra, Killing 3

By SAMEER N. YACOUB Associated Press Writer

Aug 24, 2007, 5:34 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) --

Sixty Iraqi fighters hit national police facilities in a coordinated attack in Samarra, sparking two hours of fighting that saw three people killed and more than a dozen (of the fighters) captured, police said Friday.

The masked attackers drove into the city at dusk Thursday in about 20 vehicles, including pickups with machine-guns, then split into small groups and assaulted four police checkpoints and a headquarters building, a Samarra police official said.

One policeman and two civilians - a woman and an 11-year-old girl - were killed in the fighting in the city 60 miles north of Baghdad, and nine others were injured including a police commando and three children. There were no details on (the attackers') casualties, but police arrested 14 suspects, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

The U.S. command reported that one soldier was killed in an explosion Friday in Salahuddin province, which includes Samarra, and four soldiers were wounded. It was unclear whether the incident was the same one reported by Donnelly.

The brazen attack on the Samarra police facilities came after early morning assaults on two villages to the southeast of Samarra near Baqouba, where attackers bombed the house of a local Sunni clergyman and kidnapped a group of mostly women.

Residents were finally able to drive off the attackers and end the deadly rampage, but not before 17 villagers, including seven women, were killed. Ten gunmen also died.

The twin attacks near the Diyala provincial capital of Ba'aquoba - a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that has been the focus of recent major U.S.-Iraqi military operations against Iraqi fighters.

A police vehicle rushing to the attack scene crashed and two policemen were killed, according to officials in the Diyala provincial police force who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

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