Security Summary: March 6, 2007

An Iraqi soldier stands guard at a road used by pilgrims on their way to Karbala to observe Arbaeen, which commemorates the end of a 40-day mourning period after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein

HILLA - Two suicide bombers killed 79 Shi'ite pilgrims and wounded 126 others in a crowded street in the city of Hilla south of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

MOSUL - Dozens of militants led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-styled al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq, stormed an Iraqi jail in the northern city of Mosul and freed up to 140 prisoners in one of the biggest prison breaks since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, police and officials said.

MOSUL - A car bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol in Mosul killed five and wounded 18, mostly civilians, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed 12 Shi'ite pilgrims and wounded 23 others passing through southern Baghdad's Doura district, police said.

SALAHADDIN PROVINCE - Six U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded on Monday by a bomb near their vehicles in Salahaddin Province, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

KHALIS - Gunmen attacked Turkmen Shi'ite pilgrims heading to the holy city of Kerbala, killing two and wounding 15 in a drive-by shooting near the town of Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR UDHAIM - At least three Shi'ite pilgrims were killed and 25 wounded when gunmen opened fire at their convoy near the town of Udhaim, 100 km north of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR TIKRIT - Gunmen killed at least three Shi'ite pilgrims and wounded 10, police sources said.

TARMIYA - Gunmen ambushed and killed three Shi'ite pilgrims and wounded 13 others near the town of Tarmiya, 30 km north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi army forces killed nine insurgents and arrested 97 others in the last 24 hours across Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

BAGHDAD - Two bombs targeting Iraqi army checkpoints -- one in eastern Baghdad's Ubaidi district and one near a fine arts college in central Baghdad -- killed four soldiers and two civilians and wounded 11 others, police said.

DIYALA PROVINCE - Three U.S. soldiers were killed and one wounded on Monday by a blast near their vehicles in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs in the mainly Sunni Yarmouk district and in western Baghdad killed six Shi'ite pilgrims and wounded 13 others, police said.

BAGHDAD - 25 bodies were found shot dead on Monday in different districts of Baghdad, police said.

LATIFIYA - Gunmen attacked pilgrims heading to Kerbala, killing three people and wounding 13 in two incidents on Monday in the town of Latifiya, just south of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR TIKRIT - One insurgent was killed and two wounded by a surveillance helicopter, just south of Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The insurgents were removing munitions from a cache site.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen wounded three civilians and a policeman when they attacked Shi'ite pilgrims in Doura district in southern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Two roadside bombs targeting pilgrims in Baghdad's Sulaikh and Ilaam neighbourhoods wound four people.

NEAR TIKRIT - A U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded on Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle south of Tikrit, the U.S. military said.

MUSSAYAB - A roadside bomb wounded a man on Monday in the town of Mussayab, about 60 km south of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR KIRKUK - Iraqi soldiers captured a local leader of al Qaeda just outside Kirkuk, police Brigadier Sarhat Qadir said.

ISKANDARIYA - Gunmen killed a man on Monday in the town of Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR HILLA - Gunmen killed a former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in a town near Hilla, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet