3 US Soldiers, 34 Iraqis Killed in War Attacks, Including 5 Executed by Death Squads, According to August 4-5, 2008 News Reports

Editor's Note:

Only God knows how many Iraqis are killed everyday. The following represents part of the reporting but readers are advised that the actual number of deaths should very much exceed what's reported.

Concerning deaths of US soldiers, only those US citizens who die in Iraq are included in the statistics. There are no published statistics about US soldiers who die of their injuries after that. There are no published statistics about the deaths or injuries of the private army soldiers (security contractors), or about those without US citizenship.

It is noteworthy that May 20, 2008 news reports showed that death squads which execute Iraqis on daily basis are no longer hiding themselves. Previously, Sunni leaders pointed to Mahdi Army and Badr militiamen as the perpetrators. Now, death squads are composed of the US-recruited Sahwa fighters and policemen (which is an opportunity for US forces command to sever relations with these fighters).

Despite the fact that there are scores of organizations involved in the Iraq war, the Iraqi government officials prefer to refer to them as Alqaeda gunmen for propaganda purposes, as mentioned in the June 4, 2008 news report. For accuracy purposes, the term "Alqaeda gunmen" may be replaced with "Iraqi fighters."

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Yaqen.net reported the following news:

- Three civilians were killed in Basrah by a landmine.

- Leader of the US-recruited Sahwa fighters in Al-yousufiyah, Ibrahim Hamza Al-Karabuli, and six of his family members, including his wife were killed.

- Four attacks on US convoys today in Samarra, Al-Anbar, Salahuddin, and east Baghdad.

- Al-Shuhada Brigades announced its daily attacks on US forces during the first twenty-two days of July 2008.

- Three unknown bodies were found in Wassit.

- Two Iraqi soldiers were killed, three were injured in Diala.

- One person was killed, five were injured in an explosion in Babil.

Amsi.org reported that three US soldiers were killed, three were wounded on Monday.

- A guard was killed, five were injured in an attack on the Ninawa deputy governor in Mosul.

- Body of a female employee of Ninawa Province was found a day after kidnapping her.

- Three Iraqis were killed, 23 were injured in three explosions in Baghdad and Babil on Monday.

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News Summary

National - Voices of Iraq

Tuesday , 05 /08 /2008 Time 10:26:14

BAGHDAD, Aug. 5 (VOI) –

Following is a summary of news reports posted until 10:00 p.m. Baghdad local time Tuesday: * Politics & Security:

BAGHDAD, The Iraqi Parliament on Tuesday held an open session under Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani without reaching an agreement on the provincial council elections law and the Kirkuk cause, a parliamentary media source said.

BAGHDAD, Parliament's session held on Tuesday was postponed until Wednesday as parliamentary blocs could not reach an agreement on the Kirkuk cause and the provincial council elections law, a lawmaker said.

NINEWA, Police forces on Tuesday found an unknown body in Mosul, a Ninewa security source said.

BASRA, Three civilians were killed on Tuesday by a landmine explosion in south of Basra, a police source said.

NINEWA, A civilian and a child were wounded on Tuesday by unknown gunmen in western Mosul, a security source said.

DIALA, Security forces on Tuesday arrested 53 wanted individuals and helped displaced families to return to their native districts, a military spokesman said.

BASRA, Police forces on Tuesday arrested eight wanted men and an amount of ammunitions were found during a security raid in Basra, a police source said.

SH (R)/SR

News Summary

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Tuesday , 05 /08 /2008 Time 10:26:14
BAGHDAD, Aug. 5 (VOI) –

Following is a summary of news reports posted until 04:00 p.m. Baghdad local time Tuesday:

* Politics & Security:

BAGHDAD, Iraqi forces detained 37 wanted men, including a leading member of al-Qaeda network, in different areas of Diala as part of Operation Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good) currently conducted in the volatile province, an official source said on Tuesday.

KIRKUK, Unidentified gunmen slit the throats of three (US-recruited) Sahwa tribal fighters on Tuesday in an attack on their checkpoint west of the city of Kirkuk, a senior security official said.

BABEL, A joint Iraqi army-police force captured 31 suspects north of Babel province on Tuesday, a police source said.

BAGHDAD, The Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) said its forces seized amounts of heavy arms and munitions in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City on Tuesday.

KIRKUK, Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader al-Ubaidy arrived in the city of Kirkuk on Tuesday and held a closed meeting upon arrival with Governor Abdul Rahman Mustafa and security officials in the province.

WASSIT, Security forces in Wassit embarked on Tuesday on strict security measures by closing the province's frontiers with Diala in a bid to back Operation Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good), the governor said.

BAGHDAD, A Baghdad-based newspaper on Tuesday called on Iraqi political blocs to renounce the discourse of anger in solving pending issues, most significantly the controversial issue of Kirkuk.

BAGHDAD, The central Baghdad's al-Kindi hospital received five people wounded in a blast in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital targeting Education Minister Khudeir al-Khazaaie's motorcade on Tuesday, a medic said.

KIRKUK, Iraqi Defense Minister Abdelqader al-Ubaidy on Tuesday said the province of Kirkuk needs no additional forces from central and southern Iraq because security conditions there are much better than in other Iraqi provinces, a media source in the Kirkuk provincial council said.

BAGHDAD, Two civilians were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off near a police patrol in the central Baghdad area of Bab al-Muadham on Tuesday, police said.

BAGHDAD, A total of 15 persons were arrested on Tuesday during security operations in different parts of the country, the U.S. army said.

KIRKUK, The commander of the Touz Khormato medical corps escaped an assassination attempt in central Touz district, where a sticky improvised explosive device targeted his motorcade on Tuesday, a police source said.

BAGHDAD, Tuesday's earlier bombing attack did not target the education minister's motorcade but a vehicle of the ministry's examinations department, a media spokesman for the ministry said.

BAGHDAD, Shi'i Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr intends to disarm his Mahdi Army and turn it into a social organization, The Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

BASRA, Unidentified gunmen shot down a barber in the central part of the southern Iraq port city of Basra on Tuesday, police said.

BAGHDAD, Two soldiers and one gunman were killed and 10 army personnel others wounded while security forces detained 21 people and defused several explosive charges during the past 24 hours, according to the Baghdad Operations Command on Tuesday.

AmR (R)/SR

News Summary

National - Voices of Iraq
Tuesday , 05 /08 /2008 Time 10:26:14
BAGHDAD, Aug. 4 (VOI) –

Following is a summary of news reports posted until 10:00 p.m. Baghdad local time Monday:

* Politics & Security:

NINEWA, Iraqi army forces killed two gunmen in clashes that erupted on Monday between the Iraqi military and unidentified armed men in western Mosul, an army source said.

DIALA, Iraqi security forces on Monday arrested the leader of al-Qaeda in Diala during a security operation in the province, according to the state-run al-Iraqia satellite television.

BASRA, Policemen on Monday arrested two persons leading two dangerous gangs in west of Basra, the director of the media in the Basra police said.

DIALA, Security forces on Monday arrested 15 wanted men during a security crackdown launched in Muqdadiya district in Diala, a security source said.

BAGHDAD, A total of 17 wanted men and suspected gunmen were arrested, one kidnapped was freed and a large number of bombs were defused in Baghdad in the past 24 hours, Baghdad’s operations command said on Monday.

NINEWA, The deputy governor of Ninewa province on Monday survived an assassination attempt when an explosive charge went off targeting his motorcade in western Mosul, killing one of his bodyguards and injuring five, a security source said.

NINEWA, Seven people were wounded on Monday in a booby-trapped vegetables cart explosion in western Mosul, a security source said.

BAGHDAD, Security elements at al-Habibiya hospital in northern Baghdad on Monday managed to foil an attempt to kidnap a child from the hospital by a 3-person gang, an official from the health ministry said.

BAGHDAD, The U.S. army on Monday said two of its soldiers were killed and another was injured when an improvised explosive device went off targeting their vehicle patrol in eastern Baghdad, raising the U.S. fatalities in August to 4 soldiers.

NINEWA, Iraqi security forces on Monday defused a car bomb, arrested four wanted men and found weapons in two separate incidents in Ninewa, the official spokesman for the Ninewa operations command said.

THI-QAR, A bomb squad defused 40 kg of the highly explosive C4 on a road in northeastern Nassiriya, the media spokesman for the Thi-Qar police said on Monday.

SH (R)/SR

===========================

Iraq War Report for events of Monday, 4 August 2008.

Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr,

member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice.

Monday, 4 August 2008.

·        US announces death of two US troops in bomb central Baghdad bomb attack Monday.

·        Fifteen arrested in continued operations against Sunni-sectarian al-Qa‘idah gunmen near al-Miqdadiyah Monday.

·        US, Iraqi regime forces arrest 34 “suspects” in continuing offensive against al-Qa‘idah near al-Khalis.

·        Fourteen arrested in continuing raids in al-Basrah.

Al-Anbar Province.
Al-Fallujah.

Baathist resistance group claims attack on American car.

In a dispatch posted at 3:25pm Baghdad time Monday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that the Iraqi resistance group that calls itself the General Command of the Armed forces – the Iraqi Army had issued a communiqué dated Sunday 3 August.

Yaqen reported that in the statement the Baathist organization declared that its fighters had set conducted a raid in the al-Karmah area near al-Fallujah in which they “destroyed a large Rio car” belonging to the US military. The vaguely worded communiqué, which gave no indication as to when the alleged attack had supposedly taken place, claimed that an unspecified number of American troops had been killed and wounded.

Baghdad.

US announces death of two US troops in bomb central Baghdad bomb attack Monday.

In a dispatch posted at 5:48pm Baghdad time Monday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that the US military had announced that two of its troops had been killed and a third severely wounded in a bomb explosion in central Baghdad’s al-Karradah district. Yaqen reported an American communiqué as reporting the bomb attack on Monday.

Bomb kills Iraqi soldier in eastern Baghdad Monday morning.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 4:41pm Monday afternoon Beijing time (11:41am in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by a passing Iraqi army patron near the popular al-Mawwal Restaurant on Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad Monday morning.

Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that the blast killed one member of the patrol and one civilian and wounded 22 more people, 16 of them Iraqi army troops, and six civilians. The explosion also damaged a number of nearby buildings and cars that happened to be in the area.

Bomb wounds two policemen in southern Baghdad suburb.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 4:41pm Monday afternoon Beijing time (11:41am in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by an Iraqi government police patrol in the al-Mahdiyah neighborhood of the southern Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah.

Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that the blast damaed a police car and wounded two policemen.

Salah ad-Din Province.
Samarra’.

Resistance group claims attack on US Humvee in Samarra’.

In a dispatch posted at 10:50am Baghdad time Monday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that the Iraqi resistance group that calls itself the General Command of the Armed forces – the Iraqi Army had issued a communiqué dated Saturday, 2 August.

Yaqen reported that in the statement the Baathist organization declared that its fighters had set off a bomb that “completely destroyed” a US Humvee in Samarra’, 120km north of Baghdad. The vaguely worded communiqué, which gave no indication as to when the alleged attack had supposedly taken place, claimed that the blast had killed all the Americans aboard the vehicle.

Diyala Province.
Al-Miqdaiyah.

Fifteen arrested near al-Miqdadiyah Monday in continued operations against Sunni-sectarian al-Qa‘idah sectarian gunmen.

In a dispatch posted at 8:15pm Baghdad time Monday evening, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Iraqi security forces arrested 15 people in the course of security operations against the Sunni-sectarian al-Qa‘idah organization in the area around al-Miqdadiyah, 85km northeast of Baghdad on Monday.

Yaqen reported a source in the al-Miqdadiyah police as announcing the arrests but said that no further details were revealed.

Ba‘qubah.

Commander in Diyala Province releases Iranian-backed Shi‘i sectarian militia commander arrested in offensive targeted on Sunni-sectarian al-Qa‘idah.

In a dispatch posted at 2:55pm Baghdad time Monday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Staff Lieutenant General ‘Ali Ghaydan Majid al-‘Atbi, the commander of ground forces in Diyala Province, ordered the immediate release of Captain As‘ad Husayn Burays, hours after he had been arrested by government troops in the course of their offensive in Diyala Province.

Yaqen reported a media source in the provincial government as saying that Captain Burays had been wanted for his involvement with Iranian-backed Special Units, according to the arrest warrant issued in Baghdad. Captain Burays was released, however, the source said, following an agreement between General ‘Ali Ghaydan al-‘Atbi with his cousin, a commander of a Shi‘i sectarian militia linked to Iran and the Speicial Units.

The offensive in the course of which Captain Burays was briefly detained, was launched in Diyala Province on Tuesday, 29 July. The object of the offensive is pursuit of Sunni-sectarian al-Qa‘idah gunmen.

Al-Khalis.

US, Iraqi regime forces arrest 34 “suspects” in continuing offensive against al-Qa‘idah.

In a dispatch posted at 11:35am Baghdad time Monday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Iraqi security forces arrested 34 “suspects” on Monday in the course of the regime’s continuing offensive against al-Qa‘idah in Diyala Province.

Yaqen reported Muhammad al-‘Askari, spokesman for the Iraqi Defense Ministry, as saying that the police and Iraqi army with US air support arrested 34 people in al-Khalis, 57km north of Baghdad, and in the village of al-Khazraj. The Iraqi regime launched the offensive against the Sunni-sectarian al-Qa‘idah organization in Diyala Province on Tuesday, 29 July.

Khanaqin.

Bomb kills two Iraqi army troops near Khanaqin before dawn Monday.

In a dispatch posted at 9:50am Baghdad time Monday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by a patrol of Iraqi army troops in the Khanaqin area near the Iranian border northeast of Baghdad before dawn on Sunday-Monday night.

Yaqen reported Major Qadir ‘Abd al-Karim of the Iraqi Army’s 18th Brigade as saying that the blast occurred in the Imam Ways area, 35km southwest of Khanaqin. The blast killed two soldiers and wounded three more of them. The operation came as the troops were engaged in the offensive against al-Qa‘idah, launched in Diyala Province on Tuesday, 29 July.

Babil Province.
Al-Hillah.

Governor of Babil Province survives bomb attack in Baghdad Sunday.

In a dispatch posted at 6:31pm Baghdad time Monday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that the governor of Babil Province survived an assassination attempt on Sunday, when a bomb went off by the governor’s motorcade as he was on his way to Baghdad for meetings with government officials.

Yaqen reported Engineer ‘Abd ar-Razzaq an-Nasrawi, official press spokesman for the governor, as saying that the bomb exploded by the motorcade of Governor Salmi Salih al-Muslimawi as he drove near the Umm at-Tubul Mosque in Baghdad Sunday. Al-Muslimawi survived the blast, which caused no casualties among the personnel in his motorcade. The explosion did severely damage one of the guards’ vehicles, however.

Al-Muslimawi last survived an assassination attempt in May this year, when a car bomb went off near his motorcade in the al-Qadisiyah neighborhood of western Baghdad when he was on his way back to al-Hillah from the Iraqi capital. Seven of the governor’s guards and four civilians were wounded in that attack.

Ninwa Province.
Al-Mawsil.

Exploding vegetable cart wounds four policemen, three civilians in al-Mawsil Monday.

In a dispatch posted at 12:32am Baghdad time after midnight Tuesday morning, the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported that an explosives-laden vegetable cart blew up by a patrol of Iraqi police in western al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad, on Monday.

The AMSI reported a source in the Ninwa Province security forces as saying that the explosion of the vegetable cart wounded four policemen and three civilians. The source said that the bomb consisted of explosives and mortar shells. The casualties were taken to hospital for treatment.

Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization, known for its suicide attacks, in al-Mawsil and surrounding Ninwa Province.

Bomb targets official convoy in western al-Mawsil Monday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 9pm Baghdad time Monday night, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by the motorcade of the deputy governor of Ninwa Province in western al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad, on Monday afternoon.

Yaqen reported Captain Muslih Isma‘il, Commander of the Deputy Governor’s bodyguard, as saying that the bomb went off as the motorcade of Khusraw Kawran, the Deputy Governor’s motorcade drove through al-Yarmuk Square in western al-Mawsil. Captain Isma‘il said that the Deputy Governor was not actually in his motorcade at the time, but added that one of his guards was killed and five more of them wounded in the explosion. The injured were admitted to al-Mansur Hospital for treatment.

Khusraw Kawran announced that he was not present in the motorcade when the bomb explosion, saying only that his motorcade was on an “official mission” at the time.

Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization, known for its suicide attacks, in al-Mawsil and surrounding Ninwa Province.

Gunmen attack Iraqi army post west of al-Mawsil.

In a dispatch posted at 4:33pm Baghdad time Monday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that gunmen attacked an observation tower manned by Iraqi army troops in the Tall ar-Rumman area west of al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad, on Sunday-Monday night.

Yaqen reported witnesses as saying that a bomb exploded Sunday near the headquarters of the Iraqi government army in Tall ar-Rumman, and afterwards gunmen attacked an observation tower at a checkpoint in the area. The witnesses had no information regarding the nature or extent of casualties, if any.

For their part, a source in the Iraqi army said that Iraqi troops had killed a gunman planning a bomb at an army post in the Tall ar-Rumman area. The spokesman said that the army was conducting extensive raids and searches in the area in search of gunmen.

Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization, known for its suicide attacks, in al-Mawsil and surrounding Ninwa Province.

Al-Basrah Province.
Al-Basrah.

“Dangerous gang leaders” arrested south of al-Basrah Monday.

In a dispatch posted at 7:26pm Baghdad time Monday evening, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Iraqi government police arrested two heads of what it describes as the “most dangerous gangs” in the southern province of al-Basrah on Monday.

Yaqen reported Colonel ‘Abd al-Karim az-Zaydi as saying that the police arrested the two men on the road to Safwan, across the border from Kuwait. The two are accused of kidnapping and robbing victims on the outer road from al-Basrah south to Safwan. The source said that a search was under way for the members of the gangs.

Fourteen arrested in continuing raids in al-Basrah.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 5:53pm Monday afternoon Beijing time (12:53pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that Iraqi Interior Ministry forces in the southern city of al-Basrah, arrested 14 people it said were “wanted for terrorism and crimes” in the last 24 hours.

Xinhua reported a source in the al-Basrah Province police, who asked to remain anonymous, as saying that the arrests were the result of raids throughout the al-Basrah area and that in addition to the people arrested, the troops seized 25 Faz rockets and 13 anti-personnel landmines.

Since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an offensive against the pro-Iranian Sadr Movement and its armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be preparation for an American attack on Iran.

www.albasrah.net

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