Security Summary: November 23-24, 2006

A security guard uses a metal scanner to check the body of a Sadr City bombing victim before entering the Shi'ite Imam Hussein shrine in Kerbala

November 24, 2006:

BAGHDAD - A U.S. attack helicopter destroyed a site in the Shi'ite Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad where six rockets had been fired after dark at the renowned Abu Hanifa mosque in the nearby Sunni enclave of Adhamiya, the military said in a statement. Soviet-built "Katyusha" surface-to-surface rockets are a common element in the arsenal of militants in Iraq.

BAGHDAD - Baghdad police recovered 30 unidentified bodies around the capital in the 24 hours to late Friday, an Interior Ministry source said. Most appeared to be the victims of death squad torture and killings. The bodies had apparently been dumped despite an indefinite curfew imposed on Thursday.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen rampaged through a Sunni enclave in the mainly Shi'ite district of Hurriya in Baghdad, setting mosques and homes ablaze, residents and the deputy prime minister said. A police source said 30 people were killed.

BAGHDAD - Clashes involving U.S.-led forces were reported in Baghdad's Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army Shi'ite militia, and there were some casualties, a Shi'ite lawmaker and residents said. The Interior Ministry said a U.S. helicopter opened fire in response to ritual gunfire during a funeral.

DIWANIYA - Six mortars hit a residential area in Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding two, police said.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said coalition forces killed four suspected insurgents and detained six more in a mission targeting an al Qaeda cell in Tarmiya, north of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - The death toll in Thursday's multiple car bombings in Sadr City, a Shi'ite slum district of Baghdad, rose to 202 after around 40 of the wounded died overnight, police said. Another 250 were wounded and Baghdad was under a curfew.

TAL AFAR - A double suicide attack killed 22 people and wounded 45 at a market in a Shi'ite district in the northern city of Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, police said.

BAQUBA - Gunmen blew up an office of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, after U.S. troops raided the building to arrest Sadr supporters inside, police said. They also reported sporadic clashes and said the situation was tense in the religiously mixed town which has been a frequent scene of sectarian violence.

BAGHDAD - Residents in Shula, a Shi'ite enclave in mainly Sunni west Baghdad, said at least two mortars hit the neighbourhood. There were no reports of any injuries.

ISKANDARIYA - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman and wounded another in the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, on Thursday, police said. In a separate incident gunmen attacked a police checkpoint, killing one civilian and wounding a policeman.

MOSUL - Three bodies with gunshot wounds were found in different parts of the northern city of Mosul on Thursday, the local hospital said.

TAL AFAR - Gunmen pulled a man off a bus in central Tal Afar on Thursday and shot him dead, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet

November 23, 2006:

BAGHDAD - Up to six car bombs killed 133 people in a Shi'ite militia stronghold in Baghdad and a further 201 people were wounded, police said. The blasts were followed by a mortar barrage aimed at a nearby Sunni enclave.

TIKRIT - Gunmen attacked a police patrol killing one policeman and wounding one in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen clashed with security forces in central Mosul and two civilians were killed, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed Najim al-Kinani, a former military pilot, in the west central al-Mansour district of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - About 30 militants attacked the Iraqi Health Ministry in central Baghdad with mortars and gunfire, an Interior Ministry source and the deputy health minister said. The ministry source said five people were wounded.

BAGHDAD - U.S. troops hunting a kidnapped American soldier opened fire on a minibus, killing four passengers, during a raid on Baghdad's Sadr City district, police and witnesses said. The U.S. military said the vehicle had ignored signals and warning shots from U.S. soldiers as they raided a house and seized five suspects. He had no casualty figures.

ANBAR PROVINCE - Three U.S. marines died on Wednesday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded five people in al-Nahdha area in central Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded four police commandos in the southwestern Bayaa district of Bagdhad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded two policemen and two civilians in Palestine street in northeast Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAQUBA - Gunmen opened fire at two men selling black market gasoline containers, killing the two of them and one customer in regiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet