Security Summary: December 6-7, 2006

Iraqi fire fighters and civilians extinguish a fire following a car bomb explosion Baghdad today

December 7, 2006:

KIRKUK - Five U.S. soldiers were killed on Wednesday when an explosion hit their vehicle in Kirkuk Province. The U.S. military said a total of 11 soldiers were killed on Wednesday.

FATHA - Eight people bunkering crude oil from a pipeline near the town of Fatha, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk were killed in an explosion late on Wednesday, police said. The source said seven other people were arrested.

NAJAF - U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested Faris Hassan, a leader of the radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army militia, in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. The U.S. military said one detainee had been captured during a raid in Najaf but gave no further details.

BAGHDAD - U.S.-Iraqi forces captured 15 suspected insurgents during a raid on Tuesday in Yusufiya, 15 km (9 miles) south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAIJI - U.S.-Iraqi forces captured a sniper on Wednesday in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - U.S.-Iraqi forces conducted a raid on Wednesday in Abdan, near Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) north of Baghdad, detaining seven suspected insurgents.

ISKANDARIYA - Police found three bodies, with gunshot wounds and signs of torture, in the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed Basil Abdullah, the deputy chief of al-Sadoun police station, along with two of his guards near al- Shaab National Stadium in east-central Baghdad, police said.

RIYADH - A roadside bomb exploded near a car and killed a person and wounded another in the town of Riyadh, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet

December 6, 2006:

BAGHDAD - Ten U.S. soldiers were killed in four incidents in Iraq on Wednesday, a U.S. military spokesman said. Some of the victims were killed by roadside bombs and others in combat.

BAGHDAD - Police said they found 48 bodies with gunshot wounds and signs of torture in different areas of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - Mortar rounds fell on western Baghdad's mainly Sunni Adil district, wounding four people, police said. A witness said eight mortar rounds landed, including several that hit a mosque and wounded five worshippers. The Interior Ministry said clashes later erupted between residents and Shi'ite militiamen. There were no immediate reports of casualties

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed during combat in Baghdad on Dec. 3, the U.S. military said in a statement.

MAHMUDIYA - Police found three bodies -- blindfold, bound and with gunshot wounds -- dumped in a street in Mahmudiya, a town in the so-called Triangle of Death south of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - Mortar rounds fell on a busy commercial district of central Baghdad, killing 10 people and wounding 54, police said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a minibus in Shi'ite Sadr City, killing three people and wounding 16, Interior Ministry sources said.

SUWAYRA - Mortar rounds landed in an area north of the town of Suwayra, 45 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad, on Tuesday evening, killing one person and wounding two, police said.

BAGHDAD - U.S. aircraft killed one insurgent while ground forces detained another near the town of Khanaqin, east of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

ISKANDARIYA - A bomb inside a shop killed its owner and three others and wounded 12 in the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Police found a body with gunshot wounds in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

HAWIJA - Gunmen killed a police officer on his way to work in Hawija, 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked a police brigadier, wounding him and killing his driver in a drive-by shooting in al-Mansour district in west-central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

MOSUL - Gunmen seriously wounded a university professor in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KHALIS - Gunmen attacked a minibus carrying farm workers, killing one and wounding eight on Monday in a village north of Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Police found the headless body of an army officer on Monday in Mosul, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet