28 Iraqis, US Soldier Killed, Most Belonging to US-Recruited Awakening Councils, an Initial December 31, 2007 Report

6 wounded by suicide bombing in central Ba'aquba

Diala - Voices of Iraq Monday , 31 /12 /2007 Time 2:52:57

Diala, Dec 31, (VOI) –

Six people, including a policeman, were wounded by a female suicide bomber who detonated her explosive belt near an Iraqi police checkpoint in central Ba'aquba on Monday, an official security source in Diala said.

"A woman wearing an explosive belt blew herself up near an Iraqi police checkpoint in al-Mustafa neighborhood, central Ba'aquba, leaving six people, including a policeman, wounded," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source did not give further information about the attack. Ba'aquba, the capital of Diala, is 57 km north of Baghdad.

20 gunmen killed or arrested in Baiji – police

Salah al-Din - Voices of Iraq Monday , 31 /12 /2007 Time 2:52:57

Salah al-Din, Dec 31, (VOI) –

Joint forces from the Iraqi army and police killed seven gunmen, including three Arabs, and captured 13 others in a security raid in Baiji district on Sunday night, a security source said.

U.S. soldier dies of non-combat sustained wounds

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Monday , 31 /12 /2007 Time 2:52:57

Baghdad, Dec 31, (VOI)-

The U.S. army said late on Sunday that a service member died of wounds sustained of a non-combat incident in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. "A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier died of non-combat related injuries Dec. 30," the U.S. army said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The statement added "the incident is under investigation." The death brings the number of the U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to 3,901, according to statistics released by the U.S. army. Of this number, 20 U.S. soldiers have been killed so far in December 2007.

Two policemen wounded as bomb explodes in Kirkuk

Kirkuk - Voices of Iraq Monday , 31 /12 /2007 Time 2:52:57

Kirkuk, Dec 31, (VOI)-

At least two policemen were wounded on Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a police source said.

"An explosive charge went off near a police vehicle patrol, today at dawn, near the fourth bridge in Kirkuk, wounding two policemen," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source added "the wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment." The explosion also damaged a police vehicle and a civilian car parked nearby, he said. Kirkuk is 250 km northeast of Baghdad. SK

Two corpses found in Baghdad

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Monday , 31 /12 /2007 Time 2:52:57

Baghdad, Dec 30, (VOI)-

Iraqi police patrols found on Sunday two unidentified bodies dumped in different parts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, an interior ministry source said. "Police patrols found two unknown corpses dumped in various parts of Baghdad," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The source added "one body was found in Baghdad's southern outskirt of al-Ifdhiliyah and the second in al-Obeidi quarter in eastern Baghdad." "The bodies found bore signs of gunshot wounds to different parts of the body, mainly to the head," he noted. SK

***

19 Iraqis Killed, Most Belonging to US-Recruited Awakening Councils, an Initial December 31, 2007 Report

Suicide Truck Bomb Attack Kills 12 North of Baghdad As Awakening Councils Become Targets

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN Associated Press Writer

Dec 31, 2007, 6:49 AM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) --

A suicide bomber drove a truck rigged with explosives into a checkpoint manned by members of a U.S.-backed security volunteer group in a town north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, police and a member of the volunteer group said.

Another three people were missing following the explosion in the town of Mishada, 20 miles north of the capital, on part of the main highway linking Baghdad to northern Iraq, according to a police officer and Adil al-Mishhadani, a member of the volunteer group.

The groups, known as Awakening Councils and dubbed Concerned Local Citizens by the U.S. military, have been credited with helping reduce violence in the country. The groups are made up of mainly Sunni tribal fighters who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year and are now paid by the U.S. military to help provide security.

But they're also increasingly becoming targets in Iraq.

All 12 people killed in Monday's attack, as well as the three people missing, were believed to be council members, al-Mishhadani said.

The Awakening Council movement now includes more than 70,000 fighters in Anbar, Baghdad and other Sunni-dominated provinces. The councils, along with a surge of extra U.S. troops into Baghdad and a cease-fire declared by Muqtada al-Sadr for his Mahdi Army militia, are credited with a 60 percent reduction in overall violence in the country since June.

In the capital, a mortar round wounded three civilians when it landed on a house in Baghdad's western neighborhood of Amariyah Monday, a Baghdad police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to the media. The intended target was believed to have been a nearby Awakening Council headquarters.

In the town of Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen traded fire with police and Awakening Council members, leaving one council member and one policeman dead and wounding three policemen, a police officer said.

Separately, six mortar rounds landed near an Iraqi Army checkpoint near the town, wounding two soldiers, the officer said.

In other violence Monday, a roadside bomb targeting a patrol near the Iranian border killed two Iraqi soldiers and injured another four, police said.

The attack occurred shortly after dawn in the frontier town of Mandali, about 30 miles from the Iranian border in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release information to the media.

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