Security Summary: February 13 & 14, 2007

An Iraqi soldier mans a checkpoint in Baghdad today.

February 13, 2007:

BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded in al-Ameen district in southeastern Baghdad, killing four people and wounding four, police said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber blew up a truck near a Baghdad college in the western district of Iskan, killing 18 people and wounding 40, police said.

MAHMUDIYA - Police found three bodies bearing signs of torture and with bullet wounds in the town of Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

NAHRAWAN - At least five people were killed and 12 wounded when mortar rounds landed in the town of Nahrawan on Monday, 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.

BASRA - A Hercules C-130 aircraft on a re-supply mission to British troops in Maysan province was severely damaged during what the British military described as an "incident" on landing at a tactical airstrip 20 miles (30 km) from the provincial capital, Amara.

Two passengers were injured and the aircraft was later destroyed by the troops. A British spokesman said the incident was under investigation but no hostile ground fire was involved.

From Reuters/Alternet

February 14, 2007:

BAGHDAD - A transport helicopter that crashed in Iraq last week, killing all seven on board, was brought down by a "sophisticated piece of weaponry", the U.S. military said. The Ch-46 Sea Knight crashed near Baghdad on Feb. 7, the seventh helicopter to be shot down in Iraq since Jan. 20. The military initially said mechanical failure was probably to blame.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi special forces, with U.S. military advisers, captured a suspected rogue member of the Mehdi Army militia believed to be responsible for kidnapping, torturing and murdering Iraqis, the U.S. military said. Ten other people were detained after Tuesday's raid in central Baghdad.

DIWANIYA - A former police captain was assassinated in front of his house on Wednesday by gunmen in Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

SAMAWA - Authorities imposed a 9:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m. curfew in the city of Samawa, 270 km (168 miles) south of Baghdad.

RAMADI - A suicide car bomber killed at least five people and wounded 20 others when he blew up his vehicle at the entrance of a police station in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, police sources said. The officer in charge of the station, Colonel Salam al-Dulaimi, died in the blast.

NEAR BAGHDAD - The U.S. military killed 15 insurgents in two separate air strikes, southwest of the capital in the Arab Jubour area, an insurgent stronghold, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb near a hospital killed four people and wounded 10 others in the mainly Christian Camp Sara district of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed a man and wounded three others in the al-Sulaikh district of northern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier died from gunshot wounds sustained on Tuesday just north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed two people and wounded seven others in a market in the southern Bayaa district of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Several mortar rounds killed one person and wounded 16 others in the northern Rashdiya suburb of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - A car bomb killed three people and wounded 20 others in the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed a civilian in the western Yarmouk district of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Clashes erupted between gunmen and Iraqi army, wounding three soldiers in the Yarmouk district, police said.

SAMAWA - Gunmen killed a policeman on Tuesday in the southern city of Samawa, 270 km (170 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet