Security Summary: December 19-20, 2006

Aftermath of a carbomb in Baghdad today

December 19, 2006:

BAGHDAD - Police found 53 bodies in different districts of the Iraqi capital, many with signs of torture, an Interior Ministry official said.

DIWANIYA - Gunmen shot dead a police major on the doorstep of his home in Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - An Iraqi national police battalion commander was relieved of duty on Monday after giving permission to two policemen to illegally arrest two brothers near a security checkpoint in Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

KUT - Iraqi and U.S. forces captured a supporter of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the suspected leader of a bomb cell, in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

KIRKUK - A roadside bomb wounded seven policemen when it exploded near the convoy of Lieutenant-Colonel Kamil Ahmed in southern Kirkuk, police said. Ahmed was not hurt in the attack.

BAQUBA - A total of 12 bodies, including two women, were found in different parts of the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - The bodies of four people were found on Monday in different parts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb in a popular market killed one person and wounded three in the southern Baghdad district of Zaafaraniya, police said. A roadside bomb had earlier wounded four people in the same area.

RASHEED - Three mortar rounds landed on a residential district, killing one person and wounding three on Monday in the town of Rasheed, just south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Army said its forces killed two insurgents and arrested 19 others over the past 24 hours in different parts of Iraq.

FALLUJA - A U.S. Marine died on Monday from wounds suffered in combat in Iraq's Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen including some wearing police uniforms stole at least 1.25 billion dinars ($875,000). A police source said the gunmen took the money from people who were picking up money for salaries from a bank. An Interior Ministry source said the gunmen stormed the bank itself and took as much as 2 billion dinars ($1.4 million).

BAGHDAD - Gunmen kidnapped a doctor, Omar al-Jubouri, from a hospital in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

From Reuters/Alternet

December 20, 2006:

BAGHDAD - Iraqi police found 76 bodies around Baghdad, all with gunshot wounds and most with signs of torture, the Interior Ministry said.

BAGHDAD - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks in southern Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

MOSUL - Police said they found 11 bodies, all with gunshot wounds, in the northern city of Mosul.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed university professor Muntathar Mohammed Mehdi in his car, along with his brother and cousin, relatives and hospital sources said. Relatives said Mehdi was a member of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political movement.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb in the parking lot of an Interior Ministry office charged with issuing identity cards killed four people and wounded eight in Adhamiya district in northern Baghdad, police said.

BAIJI - A roadside bomb killed two motorists and wounded three north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into a police checkpoint near Baghdad University in the southwestern Jadriya district, killing 11 people and wounding 31, including some students, an Interior Ministry source said.

MOSUL - U.S. forces said they captured a senior al Qaeda leader and five insurgents in a raid in the northern city of Mosul. It said the main suspect, whom it did not name, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

MAHMUDIYA - Two bodies with gunshot wounds and signs of torture were found in the town of Mahmudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb wounded two people in Bayaa district in southern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb wounded two people in Camp Sara district in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

From Reuters/Alternet