24 Iraqis Killed, Including 6 Executed by Death Squads, Australian Security Company Caught Killing Civilians, an October 10, 2007 Report

The Iraq News Agency, INA, reported the following news on October 10, 2007:

- 7 Kurdish Beshmerga soldiers were killed, 20 were injured in a suicide bombing targeting a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office, north of Mosul.

- 6 were killed, 10 were injured in Tikrit as a result of an attack on a police convoy.

- General Douglas Stone announced today that there are 25,000 Iraqis detained in US prisons in Iraq. He added that foreign prisoner are only 280. About 83% of them are Sunnis, 16% are Shi'is, and 860 are children under 17 years old.

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Six unknown bodies found in Baghdad

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 10 /10 /2007 Time 11:18:23

Baghdad, Oct 10, (VOI)-

Six unidentified bodies were found in different areas of the Iraqi capital Baghdad over the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. "Police patrols found on Wednesday six unidentified bodies in different areas of Baghdad, most of them were found in Baghdad's western side (al-Karkh)," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Five corpses were found in different neighborhoods of al-Karkh: one in each of al-Hurriyah, al-Doura, al-Aamel, al-Jihad, and al-Aameriyah," he explained. "One more body was found in Sadr City in Rasafa, eastern side of Baghdad," the source also said. "Most of the bodies found bore signs of gunshot wounds to different parts of the body, mainly to the head," he noted. SK/SR/

Suicide bombing targets Iraqi army base in Kirkuk

Kirkuk - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 10 /10 /2007 Time 11:18:23

Kirkuk, Oct 10, (VOI) -

At least one civilian was killed and five people were wounded on Wednesday evening in a suicide attack targeting an Iraqi army base in Kirkuk, a police source said. "A suicide bomber detonated a truck crammed with explosives near an Iraqi army base on the main road in al-Zab district, 35 km west of Kirkuk," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source added "The attack, which occurred today at 5:00 am, killed one civilian and wounded five people, including three soldiers." "The wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment," he added. Kirkuk is 250 km northeast of Baghdad. SK/SR

Tikrit placed under curfew after car bomb killed 5, wounded 12

Salah al-Din - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 10 /10 /2007 Time 11:18:23

Tikrit, Oct 10, (VOI) -

At least five people were killed and 12 more wounded on Wednesday as a car bomb exploded in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, causing local authorities to place the city under curfew, a security source said. "A car bomb detonated, this afternoon, near the motorcade of Colonel Jssem Mohammed Hussein, director of the National Security Department in Tikrit,"

Colonel Sami Mohammed from the joint coordination center told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source added "Colonel Hussein survived the attack unharmed, but the explosion killed five people and wounded 12." "The blast also damaged the state-owned-al-Rafidain Bank building and some commercial shops in central Tikrit," Colonel Mohammed said. Following the attack, the source told VOI that the local authorities in Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad, imposed an indefinite curfew on the city.

On Tuesday, two senior police officers were attacked north of Baghdad as gunmen shot dead Brigadier Abdul al-Aali Zanoun, Ninewa deputy police chief, and seriously wounded General Abdul Amir Mahmoud, chief of Kirkuk police investigation department, in two separate attacks. SK/SR

14 students, two teachers wounded in Diwaniya mortar attack

Diwaniya - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 10 /10 /2007 Time 11:18:23

Diwaniya, Oct 10, (VOI)-

At least 14 female students and two teachers were wounded on Wednesday as mortars fell onto two primary schools in Diwaniya city, a medical source and eyewitnesses said.

"Diwaniya general hospital admitted, this afternoon, 14 wounded students and two teachers after mortars fell onto al-Rawad and al-Wafaa primary schools in al-Tameem quarters, southern Diwaniya," a medical source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Local residents near the two targeted schools said that three mortars landed in the two primary schools.

"Three mortars landed into al-Rawad and al-Wafaa primary schools, located next to each other, in al-Tameem quarter, injuring 14 female students and two female teachers," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Another eyewitness said "a fourth mortar round fell near the two schools but it did not explode." A third witness told VOI that a fifth mortar fell onto a house in the nearby al-Iskan neighborhood but left no casualties. Diwaniya, a predominantly Shiite city, is 180 km south of Baghdad. SK/SR

Two policemen killed in central Diwaniya

Diwaniya - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 10 /10 /2007 Time 11:18:23

Diwaniya, Oct 10, (VOI)-

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed two policemen on early Wednesday in two separate incidents in central Diwaniya, a police source said.

"Unknown armed men opened fire against a policeman in al-Jana region in central Diwaniya, killing him on the spot," the source, to asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Another armed group showered another policeman with bullets near his house in al-Nahda neighborhood," he added. The city witnesses from now and then attacks on police and army officers. Diwaniya lies 180 km south of Baghdad.

Mosul blast targets KDP's office, leaves 18 casualties

Ninewa - Voices of Iraq Wednesday , 10 /10 /2007 Time 11:18:23

Mosul, Oct 10, (VOI)-

The suicide bombing that targeted a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office, north of Mosul, on Wednesday morning left two dead and 16 wounded, Ninewa deputy governor said.

"A suicide bomber detonated, this morning, a car rigged with explosives outside the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Khorsbat area, 30 km north of Mosul, killing two people and wounding 16," Khisrou Gouran, Ninewa deputy governor, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The deputy governor added, "among the casualties were members of KDP." The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is headed by the President of Iraq's Kurdistan region Massoud Barazani. Shabak minority inhabits the region. Shabak are part of the minorities that live in Mosul, mainly northeast of the province. They are Shiite Muslims and they do not consider themselves Arabs or Kurds. Earlier, eyewitnesses told VOI that a car rigged with explosives went off just outside the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office, north of Mosul, leaving unspecified number of casualties. Mosul is 405 km north of Baghdad.

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AP Headline: Unity Security Company Joins Blackwater Under Iraqi Microscope

By STEVEN R. HURST Associated Press Writer

Oct 10, 2007, 6:27 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) --

Iraqi officials demanded answers of an Australian-owned security company blamed in the killing of two Iraqi Christian women laid to rest Wednesday amid rising calls for a crackdown on private bodyguards used by the U.S. government.

The scrutiny of Unity Resources Group began a day after its guards allegedly gunned down the two women in their car, and less than a month after 17 Iraqis died in a hail of bullets fired by Blackwater USA contractors at a busy Baghdad intersection.

At a funeral in Baghdad's Armenian Orthodox Virgin Mary church, the Rev. Kivork Arshlian urged the government to punish those responsible. The immunity enjoyed by foreign security contractors in Iraq should be lifted, he said.

"This is a crime against humanity in general and against Iraqis in particular. Many other people were killed in a similar way," he said. "We call upon the government to put an end to these killings."

His comments reflected growing anger here against the contractors - nearly all based in the United States, Britain and other Western countries.

As the largest security firm operating in Iraq, much of that rage has been directed at Blackwater, which protects U.S. diplomats as they move about on Baghdad's dangerous streets. An Iraqi investigation into the Sept. 16 killings recommended that the U.S. State Department sever all contracts for the company's operations in Iraq within six months.

A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press that the American government was considering meeting the demand.

"They have seen that the Iraqi government is serious and inflexible on this issue. But so far there has been no concrete answer from the U.S. Embassy showing it was definitely going to drop Blackwater," the aide said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The aide said the al-Maliki government told the embassy, "We will draft and pass laws that would lift the immunity on these security companies to stop their reckless behavior."

The embassy declined to comment.

According to witnesses and police, the Armenian Christian women died when their white Oldsmobile was struck by bullets from two Unity guards as the convoy was returning to a company compound in the Karradah district.

"We cannot say the guards shot at random, but we rather say that they used deadly force in a situation where they shouldn't have," said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. "The preliminary investigation has shown that there was no threat to the convoy. The families of the victims will be summoned according to the legal procedures. They can file a law suit against the security company."

Unity Chief Operating Officer Michael Priddin said company officials had "been meeting with Iraqi authorities throughout the day and are cooperating with their investigations."

"The security team used graduated and escalated responses which included non-lethal means such as signage, strobe lights, hand signals, and a signal flare fired in front of the vehicle in an effort to get it to stop," Priddin said in a statement Wednesday night. "The vehicle did not heed these warnings and failed to halt. Fearing a suicide attack, only then did the team use their weapons in a final attempt to stop the vehicle."

Witnesses, however, said the women's car appeared to be attempting to stop when it was hit.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said Unity was "working with the Diplomatic Security Service here at the embassy and with the government of Iraq ... to be accountable and to investigate fully what happened."

Unity, which is owned by Australian partners but with headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, provides protection for USAID contractor RTI International. According to the USAID Web site, RTI has about $450 million in U.S. government contracts to work on local governance projects in Iraq. USAID is a semiautonomous arm of the U.S. State Department that manages American aide programs.

Statements from both Unity and RTI have made clear the guards were not escorting RTI clients when the shooting occurred.

At the church, mourners wept and called for justice during the funeral Mass for Marou Awanis, who was driving the car, and Geneva Jalal, a passenger.

Among a small group of relatives and friends were Awanis' three daughters, who cried over their mother's simple casket, adorned only with a golden cross.

Awanis, whose husband died during heart surgery last year, was using the Oldsmobile as an unofficial taxi to raise money for her three now-orphaned daughters: Noura, 21, and Karound, 20, both students at Technology University; and Alees, 12.

As journalists approached at the funeral service, Noura screamed: "What is the use of the word sorry?"

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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

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