Security Summary: February 18, 2007

A heavily armed Iraqi soldier at a checkpoint in Baghdad today.

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs tore through a packed market area in the Shi'ite district of New Baghdad in eastern Baghdad, killing 60 people and wounding 131 in the worst attack since U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a crackdown in the city five days ago.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb detonated by remote control killed two people, including a police man, and wounded 11 civilians outside a restaurant in Baghdad's Sadr City, police said.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier died in a grenade explosion in a northern Baghdad neighbourhood on Saturday, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Small arms fire at a U.S. patrol north of Baghdad killed one soldier on Saturday, the U.S. military said.

MOSUL - Iraqi police and U.S. advisers captured an insurgent leader on Saturday during operations in eastern Mosul.

BASRA - British forces clashed with gunmen armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades in a Shi'ite militia stronghold of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, killing at least three, Iraqi police said. The British military confirmed the clashes, saying its soldiers had been supporting Iraqi troops on a "strike operation" in the northern slum area of Hayaniya when they came under attack.

SAMAWA - Colonel Ali Mutashar, police commander in Samawa, escaped unharmed after a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy in Samawa, 270 km (170 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. Four of his bodyguards were wounded.

BAGHDAD - Police retrieved the bodies of five people shot dead on Saturday in different districts of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Clashes erupted between gunmen and police in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. A police colonel was wounded during the clashes.

BALAD - The bodies of three people were found shot dead on Saturday in the town of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a joint U.S. and Iraqi coordination centre said.

SULAIMAN PAEK - The bodies of two men, with gunshot wounds and showing signs of torture, were found in the town of Sulaiman Pak, 80 km (50 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.

SUWAYRA - Police retrieved the bullet-riddled body of a man from a river in the town of Suwayra, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Brigadier Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi general leading the new Baghdad security plan, said 327 displaced families had returned to their homes in different districts of the capital since the security crackdown was formally launched on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army detained 38 insurgents during the 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet