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.

On September 6, 2008, news reports mentioned the killing of nine Iraqis who were arrested by Al-Muthanna Brigade of the Iraqi Army stationed in the city of Al-Falloujah. There corpses were found with bullets shot on their heads and chests. This incident is evidence that the sectarian-based Iraqi forces have been functioning also as death squads, which killed Iraqis for suspicion of belonging to resistance organizations, without any legal procedures or trials.

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."

4 men, Sahwa leader gunned down in Salah al-Din

October 19, 2008 - 10:46:18

SALAH AL-DIN / Aswat al-Iraq:

Five persons, including a US-recruited Sahwa council leader, were killed, and three others were wounded in an armed attack on the leader’s house in Salah al-Din province, a police source said on Sunday.

“During a late hour on Saturday evening, unknown gunmen attacked the house of Aamer Jassem Khudair, a leader of Sahwa forces in al-Hudeira al-Sharqiyya village in eastern Balad district, killing five persons, including Khudeir himself, and wounding two women and a child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

The source did not specify whether those attacked belonged to the same family, but noted that all bodies were taken to a local morgue and the wounded to Balad Public Hospital.

(However, Yaqen.net reported that the victims were all members of Khudair's family).

“The gunmen have fled to an unknown destination after blowing up part of the house,” the source added.

SS (S)

7 wounded in 2nd Baghdad blast

October 19, 2008 - 10:23:30

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Seven persons on Sunday were reported wounded in a blast that targeted a police patrol in southeastern Baghdad, the second explosion to hit the capital today.

“An improvised explosive device (IED) went off in al-Zafaraniya area near an Iraqi police patrol vehicle, wounding seven persons, including three police personnel,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq.

The explosion caused damage to one of the vehicles.

Earlier this morning, a security source told Aswat al-Iraq that an explosive charge detonated near al-Zafaraniya gas station in southeastern Baghdad, killing 2 civilians and injuring 10 others.

SS (P)

Baghdad blast kills 2, wounds 10

October 19, 2008 - 07:59:37

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Two civilians on Sunday were killed and 10 others were wounded in an explosion that ripped through southeastern Baghdad, a police source said.

“This morning, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near al-Zafaraniya gas station in southeastern Baghdad, killing 2 civilians and injuring 10 others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

The source did not provide further details.

SS (P)

Islamic Army group leader killed north of Karbala – source

October 18, 2008 - 06:37:56

KARBALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

Iraqi soldiers killed the commander of the so-called Islamic Army group in the area of al-Furat al-Awsat after tracking him down between the provinces of Karbala and Baghdad, an army source said on Saturday.

“The Iraqi soldiers killed Abdelhadi Abees al-Janabi, the commander of the so-called Islamic Army, in al-Furat al-Awsat,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq.

“Janabi was killed in the area of Djerf al-Sakhr of Babel province, (60 km) north of Karbala,” he said, not giving more details.

Al-Furat al-Awsat, a geographical area in southern and central Iraq at the Euphrates River Basin, encompasses the provinces of Najaf, Karbala, Diwaniya and Babel and sometimes al-Muthanna.

Karbala lies 110 km southwest of Baghdad.

AmR (P)

Mass grave with 11 bodies found in Samarra

October 18, 2008 - 06:22:56

SALAH AL-DIN / Aswat al-Iraq:

The Samarra Sahwa (Awakening) tribal forces council found a mass grave with eleven bodies east of Samarra on Saturday, the council commander, Shaikh Khaled Flaih Hassan, said.

“The Sahwa fighters unearthed a mass grave containing the remains of eleven corpses in the area of al-Djallam, (25 km) east of Samarra city,” Hassan told Aswat al-Iraq.

“Among the bodies was that of the son of the former chief of the Samarra municipal council, Omar Muhammad, as well as two bodyguards of the incumbent mayor of Samarra, Mahmoud Khalaf,” he added, noting that those eleven had been kidnapped and shot down last year.

He said that his forces removed the bodies to the Samarra Public Hospital to hand over to relatives.

Samarra lies 120 km north of Baghdad while the province of Salah al-Din is located 175 km north of the Iraqi capital.

AmR (P)