Security Summary: February 23, 2007

U.S. soldiers assemble at dawn for a patrol in Baghdad this morning

ANBAR - Three U.S. soldiers were killed in combat on Thursday in Iraq's volatile western Anbar province, the U.S. military said in a statement.

BAGHDAD - A boy aged around 12 was killed and two more wounded during a gunbattle while U.S. troops were pursuing two suspects in Zaafaraniya in southern Baghdad, a Reuters photographer embedded with a U.S. patrol on the scene said.

KIRKUK - Four bodies were found in Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Police said 14 bodies were found in Baghdad on Thursday.

MOSUL - Police and hospital officials said 10 bodies were found in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday. The dead included a police captain. All had been shot in the head.

CAMP TAJI - A U.S. aircraft killed five insurgents when it destroyed a vehicle north of Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. military said. It said the insurgents had fired from the vehicle at the Camp Taji military base.

From Reuters/Alternet