61 Iraqis Killed, Including 18 Executed by Death Squads, 27 in a US Airstrike, According to a September 6, 2007 Report

The Iraq News Agency (INA) reported the deaths of 53 Iraqis, on September 6, 2007.

- 14 Iraqis were killed in a US airstrike on Al-Washash neighborhood, Sadr City. Several houses were also destroyed in the area which is a stronghold of Al-Mahdi Army militia.

- 3 Iraqis were killed, 17 were injured when a car bomb exploded in a Tikrit gas station, targeting a police patrol.

- 2 Iraqis, suspected as resistance fighters, were killed, 30 were arrested in Hore Rajab, south of Baghdad, by US-led tribal forces.

- 22 Iraqis were killed in various attacks.

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

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The US news agency, the Associated Press, reported the deaths of 61 Iraqis today, September 6, 2007..

AP Headline: U.S. and Iraqi Troops Fight Suspected Shiite Militiamen in Baghdad; 14 Reportedly Killed

By KIM GAMEL Associated Press Writer

Sep 6, 2007, 5:10 PM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) --

U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by attack aircraft clashed with suspected militiamen before dawn Thursday in Baghdad, bombing houses and battling more than a dozen snipers on rooftops. Residents and police said at least 14 people were killed.

The fighting occurred in a Mahdi Army stronghold of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who had ordered his militia not to carry out any more attacks for up to six months. The U.S. military stressed the raid targeted breakaway factions that remain violent.

The clashes reinforced the obstacles to U.S. goals posed by the increasingly volatile militias amid signs that infighting within Iraq's dominant religious sect is on the rise, just days before a key progress report in Washington on the war.

Video from APTN showed houses with their roofs caved in, and others completely destroyed.

U.S. troops also targeted (Iraqi fighters) several raids north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing six suspected (fighters) and detaining 25, the military said.

The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has climbed to a record high of 168,000, and is moving toward a peak of 172,000 in the coming weeks - a level that could extend into December, a senior military official said Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the increase is the result of troops rotations, as several brigades overlap while they move in and out of the war zone. Previously officials had predicted the number could go up to about 171,000.

Bombings, shootings and mortar attacks left at least 28 Iraqis dead nationwide, including 18 bullet-riddled bodies that turned up in Baghdad and south of the capital - apparent victims of so-called death squads.

After a period of relative calm, recent days have seen an uptick in violence.

The operation in the western Baghdad area of Washash involved Iraqi and U.S. special forces acting on a tip against a (Mahdi Army) cell.

The troops called for airstrikes after coming under fire from more than a dozen snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.

The military reported that four buildings were damaged, "including two enemy strongholds that sustained major damage and two surrounding buildings that sustained moderate damage." No casualties were mentioned in the statement.

Residents reported hearing explosions at about 3 a.m. that persisted for nearly an hour.

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity for his own safety, said U.S. helicopters had attacked the area, killing 14 civilians and wounding 10. There was confusion at the scene, however, as some residents said they thought it had been a mortar attack and said 27 people had been killed.

AP Headline: U.S. military deaths in Iraq at 3,752

As of Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, at least 3,752 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 3,065 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

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