60 Iraqis Killed in Initial June 27, 2007 Reports

The Iraq News Agency (INA) reported that Iraqis and a US soldier were killed on June , 2007.

- A suicide car bomb exploding at a checkpoint on Al-Jadiriyah Bridge, in Baghdad, killing the suicide bomber, a policeman, and wounding three policemen.

- An Iraqi journalist was assassinated yesterday. Hamed Abed Sarhan (56) became one of the 230 Iraqi journalists who were killed since the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

- A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in Samarra led to the killing of five policemen. Two civilians were also killed by the surviving policemen, who started shooting at people after the explosion.

- A car bomb exploded targeting a police patrol in Al-Sulaikh, north of Baghdad, killing four policemen and injuring about 20 people.

- Thousands of US forces continue their campaign against the Iraqi resistance in the Diyala province.

The (US) Associated Press news agency (AP) reported that Iraqis and a US soldier were killed on June , 2007. The AP reported the following news.

Bombing Kills 14 Near Shiite Shrine; U.S. Diplomat Expresses Hope for Progress in Iraq

America's No. 2 diplomat in Iraq predicted progress by fall on bringing together Iraq's feuding factions as violence claimed more lives Wednesday, including 14 people killed in a late night car bombing near a Shiite shrine in the capital.

In all, at least 60 Iraqis were killed or found dead Wednesday across the country, most of them in the Baghdad area, according to police reports.

In the deadliest attack, at least 14 people were killed and 22 were wounded when a parked car exploded late Wednesday near a major Shi'i shrine in the Al-Kadhemiyah district of northern Baghdad, police said. The victims were mostly local residents enjoying a warm summer evening.

Elsewhere, five policemen were killed in a bombing in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, police said. Four other policemen died when gunmen attacked a police station in the Bashir area about 15 miles south of Kirkuk, police Brig. Sarhat Qadir said.

In Baghdad, three rockets or mortars slammed into the fortified Green Zone, which includes major U.S. and Iraqi offices. An Iraqi security official said one round exploded near the U.S.-run hospital and another near the residence of one of al-Maliki's advisers.

There were no reports of casualties, and the official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Five people died and 10 were wounded when a bomb planted under a car exploded in north Baghdad, police said. Three of the injured were police and the other victims were civilians, police said.

In the Sadr City, at least one person was killed in an exchange of gunfire when four or five men opened fire on American military police, the U.S. command said. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release information to media.

Associated Press Television News video showed two cars riddled with bullet holes in the windshield. Residents told AP Television that two people died in the shootout but they refused to give their names, presumably for fear of reprisal. They claimed the men were shot by American soldiers who were stuck in a traffic jam and opened fire on cars around them.

Also Wednesday, a leading Sunni politician suggested that the Sunni minister of culture might be allowed to resign and leave Iraq to ease sectarian tensions arising from allegations that he was behind a 2005 assassination attempt against another politician, whose two sons died in the attack.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Culture Minister Asad Kamal al-Hashimi, who has gone into hiding. Sunni politicians claim the allegation is part of a campaign by the Shiite-dominated government to marginalize Sunni political leaders.

Associated Press correspondents Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Sameer N. Yacoub and Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.

As of Tuesday, at least 3,565 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,927 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated early Tuesday.

The British military has reported 153 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 20; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, South Korea, one death each.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 26,350 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department's weekly tally.

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