Kadhemiya death toll up to 60, wounded 125

April 24, 2009 - 12:43:31

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Casualties from Friday’s earlier double suicide bombing attack that ripped through western Baghdad’s Imam Moussa al-Kadhem shrine rose to 60 deaths and the wounded to 125, police said.

“Twenty-five Iranians are among the dead. Eighty out of the 125 wounded people are Iranians too,” an Iraqi police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

He did not give more details.

Earlier in the day another security source told Aswat al-Iraq that the blasts left 30 people killed and 100 others wounded.

Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts blew themselves up near visitors of Imam Kadhem shrine in the western Baghdad areas of al-Shreif al-Radi and Bab Mourad.

The explosions came only one day after the two suicide blasts in Baghdad and Diala, where scores were killed and injured.

AmR (P)

IED kills 2 civilians in Diala

April 24, 2009 - 12:02:59

DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

Two civilians were killed and a third was injured on Friday in a bomb explosion in northeast of Baaquba city, the director of al-Saadiya district said.

“An improvised explosive device went off targeting a group pf civilians near a mosque in Taba neighborhood in central al-Saadiya district in south of Khaneqeen, killing two civilians and injuring a third one,” Sheikh Ahmad Zarkoushi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The wounded was carried to a nearby hospital for treatment,” he also said, without giving further details.

Khaneqeen is 155 km northeast of Baaquba, the capital of Diala, which lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

SH (P)

Marine killed in Anbar

April 24, 2009 - 10:17:42

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

The U.S. Department of Defense announced the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“Cpl. William C. Comstock, 21, of Van Buren, Ark., died April 22 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq,” the department said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The incident is under investigation,” it added.

The death brings the number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to 4,276, including 13 in April 2009.

SH (P)

Cop killed, 3 wounded in southern Falluja

April 24, 2009 - 08:03:26

ANBAR / Aswat al-Iraq:

A policeman was killed and three others were wounded Friday in an attack by gunmen on a checkpoint in southern Falluja, a police source said.

“An armed group on Friday (April 24) attacked a checkpoint in Ahsa region in Ameriyat al-Falluja district in southern Falluja, where a policeman was killed and three were wounded,” Major Yassin Mohamed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“One of the attackers was killed in the attack, while the rest fled to unknown place,” he added, noting that police sealed off the whole area and started a hunt down campaign to arrest the gunmen. Falluja is 45 km west of Baghdad, while Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, lies 110 km west of the Iraqi capital.

SH (P)

Diala suicide blast casualties up to 95

April 24, 2009 - 12:59:31

DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

Casualties from Thursday’s suicide blast that targeted Iranians inside a restaurant northeast of Ba'aquba city went up to 56 deaths and 39 wounded, a security source in Diala province said on Friday.

“Iranian visitors who were having their lunch inside the Khanaqin Restaurant on the Imam Wess road, Khanaqin district, (155 km) northeast of Ba'aquba, rose on Friday to reach 56 deaths, including three Iraqis, and 39 others wounded, including two Iraqis. The 75 Iranian survivors were taken back home to Iran today (April 24),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

On Thursday, a security source had said that a suicide attacker having an explosive belt strapped to his waist blew himself up amidst Iranian pilgrims who were on their way to visit holy shrines in the Shiite provinces of Karbala and al-Najaf, killing 32 and wounding 63 others.

Ba'aquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

AmR (P)

Some inmates released by U.S. are wanted by Iraqi authorities – official

April 24, 2009 - 02:02:50

WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq:

A number of detainees who were released by the U.S. forces from jails are wanted by the Iraqi authorities, the commander of the Quick Response Squad (QRS) in Wassit province said on Friday.

“Our forces have already embarked on a campaign a few days ago to arrest some of the persons released from U.S. jails because they are wanted by the authorities by virtue of arrest warrants,” Maj. Azeez Lateef al-Imara told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

AmR (P)