4 US Soldiers, 12 Iraqis Killed, Including 8 Executed by Death Squads, According to May 23, 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.

It is noteworthy that May 20, 2008 news reports showed that death squads which execute Iraqis on daily basis are no longer hiding themselves. They are composed of the US-recruited Sahwa fighters and policemen.

Yaqen.net and amsi.org reported the following news today:

- 3 US soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed, two US soldiers were injured in a car bomb attack on a checkpoint in Al-Jolan neighborhood, in western Falloujah.

- US security contractors have participated in the US-backed Iraqi forces campaign on the city of Mosul. In particular, they search houses in Al-Yarmouk neighborhood of Mosul, threatening the residents, isolating men from the rest of the family, writing slogans on their necks, and interrogating them.

- US soldiers set a house on fire in Mosul today.

- US Hummer vehicle was destroyed near Samarra juncture by a roadside bomb, killing and injuring a number of US soldiers.

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IED kills U.S. soldier in Baghdad

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55
Baghdad, May 23, (VOI)-

The U.S. army said on Friday that one of its soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device explosion in southwest of Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll in May to 15.

"A Multi-National Division – Center Soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device attack 12 miles southwest of Baghdad, May 22," the U.S. army said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The deaths bring the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the beginning of military operations in March 2003 to 4080.
Of this number 15 soldiers have been so far killed in May.
SH

3 bodies found buried in northern Baghdad

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55
Baghdad, May 23, (VOI)-

Three unidentified bodies were found buried near a mosque in northern Baghdad, where weapons and explosives were seized and 16 wanted men were arrested, the official spokesman for the Baghdad's operations command said on Friday.

"A force from the 22nd brigade of the Iraqi army found three unidentified corpses of two men and a woman buried at the entry of al-Rahma mosque in Rahmaniya al-Shuaala region in northern Baghdad," General Qassem Atta told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The force arrested 16 wanted men and seized 367 guns and some other weapons and explosives hidden in refrigerators," he noted.

SH

Roadside bombing leaves 3 policemen wounded in Falluja

Anbar - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55
Anbar, May23, (VOI)-

Three policemen were wounded in a roadside bombing, the second of its type, in Falluja on Friday, a police source said.

“A roadside bombing went off against a police patrol in al-Azragiya district, north , north Falluja,”, a police source, who requested anonmity, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI) .

The source noted “the blast left three policemen wounded”.

Earlier, a roadside bombing targetting a police patrol near a US army base in central Falluja, leaving casualties.

Falluja, a major city in Anbar province, lies 45 km west Baghdad.
AM

Blast rocks Falluja

Anbar - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55
Anbar, May 23, (VOI) –

A powerful blast ripped through the city of Falluja, followed by rising plumes of smoke, a police source in the city said on Friday.

"The blast occurred in a government building compound in the city, where the Falluja police department lies," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI) on customary condition of anonymity.
"Thick plumes of smoke were seen rising in the scene of the blast whose causes or results are not known yet," according to the source.

Falluja, 45 km west of the Iraqi capital, is the largest city of al-Anbar Province, 110 km west of Baghdad.

AE

Arms cache, woman's body found west of Samarra

Salah al-Din - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55
Salah al-Din, May 23, (VOI) –

Iraqi policemen in Salah al-Din province found 1012 artillery shells and three explosive vehicles west of Samarra on Friday, in addition to the body of a woman near Lake al-Tharthar, police said.

"Our forces on Friday found 1012 mortar shells of different calibers upon intelligence tips we received on arms caches in al-Jazirah area, near Lake al-Tharthar, (30 km) west of Samarra," First Lieutenant Muthanna Shakir, the commander of the Quick Intervention Force in Samarra, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"The operation also resulted in finding three car bombs, which were detonated in their places. A body of a woman in her 30s showing signs of having been shot was also found in a cell under the ground," Shakir added.

Samarra, a city in the province of Salah al-Din that lies on the eastern bank of the River Tigris, is 118 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

AE

Blast in Huweija kills civilian, wounds 3

Kirkuk - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55

Kirkuk, May 23, (VOI) – One civilian was killed and three others wounded when an explosive charge went off in al-Rimaniya village, Huweija district, on Friday, police said.

"An improvised explosive device went off near a gathering of people in al-Rimaniya village in Huweija, (70 km) west of Kirkuk, leaving one civilian killed and three others injured," a security source speaking on condition of anonymity told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"The wounded were rushed to al-Huweija hospital for treatment," the source said, adding the incident is being investigated.

The oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a province of mixed population of religious and ethnic groups, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
AE

One killed 5 bodies found until Friday afternoon

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 23 /05 /2008 Time 9:24:55

Baghdad, May 23, (VOI)-

One person was killed, ten were wounded, six (should be five) unknown bodies were found and 48 people were arrested in acts of violence until Friday afternoon, security sources said.

In Ninewa, a police source said that police forces found five unknown bodies in Misherfa village in west of Mosul.

A security source said a fire erupted in a house in northern Mosul when U.S. forces raided it on Friday.
Another security source said that eight army and police force were wounded in a bomb blast near Misherfa village in west of Mosul.

The interior ministry said Iraqi security forces on Friday found amounts of weapons and ammunitions, arrested five suspected gunmen and defused two bombs in separate areas in Mosul.

"Police patrols found amounts of weapons and ammunitions during a searching operation in Tal Alu village," the ministry said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"Police forces arrested five suspects and seized 14 bombs, 4 hand grenades and different kinds of weapons during a searching operation in Hudaiyra region, which was carried out on intelligence tips," according to another statement of the ministry.

"The forces defused a bomb in al-Saa region and another bomb in Palestine neighborhood," it added.
In Kirkuk, police said one civilian was killed and three others wounded when an explosive charge went off in al-Rimaniya village, Huweija district.

"Unknown gunmen opened fire at two Iraqi soldiers in Soliman Beik district, south of Tuz, injuring them seriously," a security source said.

In Basra, a police source said that policemen arrested six wanted men and 17 suspects during crackdown operations.

In Baghdad, the Baghdad operations command forces arrested three gunmen while planting an improvised explosive device and found several IEDs in two separate incidents in eastern Baghdad, the command spokesman said on Friday.

U.S. forces captured four suspected gunmen in the area of al-Rashidiya, 15 km north of Baghdad, on Friday while hunting down a Special Groups arms smuggler, the U.S. army in Iraq said.

In Salah el-Din, the U.S. forces in Iraq said more than 140, including a number of wanted people, turned themselves in to the Joint Coordination Center in the city of Balad.

In Anbar, a powerful blast ripped through the city of Falluja, followed by rising plumes of smoke, a police source in the city said on Friday.

SH

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Iraq War Report for events of Thursday, 22 May 2008.

Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr,

member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice.

· US sniper guns down Iraqi TV cameraman on his way home in Baghdad Wednesday.

· Eight Iraqis reported killed by American forces in Bayji Wednesday evening.

Baghdad.

US sniper guns down Iraqi TV cameraman on his way home in Baghdad Wednesday.

In a dispatch posted at 11:44am Baghdad time Thursday morning, the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported that the Association for the Defense of Journalistic Rights in Iraq announced that a television cameraman had been shot and killed by a US sniper in the al-‘Ubaydi district of eastern Baghdad.

The AMSI reported the Association as saying that Wisam ‘Ali ‘Awdah, a cameraman for the Afaq TV station was killed on Wednesday afternoon when a US sniper shot him as he was returning home in the al-‘Ubaydi district, according to an account given by Khaz‘al Ghazi, the supervisor of correspondents at the TV station.

The cameraman Wisam ‘Awdah was born in 1976, was unmarried, and graduated from the College of Journalism in 2002. His death brings the number of journalists killed in Iraq since April 2003 to 258.

Salah ad-Din Province.
Bayji.

US troops arrest 15 in raids on Bayji.

In a dispatch posted at 11:45am Baghdad time Thursday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that US troops carried out raids, searches, and arrests together with Iraqi regime troops in Bayji, 200km north of Baghdad.

Yaqen reported that the Americans and their allies arrested 15 people, and burned two cars on the pretext that they suspected explosives to be inside. The arrested individuals are shopkeepers in the Bayji market and the cars belonged to individuals living in the city. No explosives were in them.

Eight Iraqis reported killed by American forces in Bayji Wednesday evening.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 8:38am Thursday morning Beijing time (4:38am in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that US forces had killed eight Iraqis near the city of Bayji, 200km north of Baghdad on Wednesday evening.

Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that they had received two accounts of the shooting incident. According to the first account, eight people were trying to flee a village near Bayji when US troops showed up to conduct raids and searches. An American aircraft spotted the individuals fleeing the area and fired a rocket at them, destroying their car and killing all eight of them.

The second version of the story said that the eight individuals were leaving the village in a completely normal manner when US ground troops spotted them and shot them all dead.

As of the time of reporting, the US had made no comment on the incident.

At midday Wednesday, US forces arrested seven individuals in Bayji. The Americans also set two cars ablaze and blasted a building towards which the seven were trying to flee.

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