Security Summary: April 15, 2007

Iraqi army soldiers handcuff three men in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today. 'Emergency powers' resembling martial law were extended to include Mosul at the beginnng of April. The powers include arrest without warrant or charges.

MOSUL - A U.S. military helicopter made a "precautionary landing" after it was hit by insurgent gunfire during combat in the northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said. The two pilots of the OH-58D "Kiowa Warrior" helicopter were not hurt and were recovered by a second helicopter, the military said.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed by small arms fire in southern Baghdad on Sunday after the soldier's unit came in support of Iraqi police who were shot at from a local mosque, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. marine was killed south of Baghdad on Saturday by a roadside bomb that exploded near troops conducting a foot patrol, the U.S. military said.

FALLUJA - A U.S. marine was killed in combat in western Anbar province on Saturday, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Two roadside bombs exploded in the predominantly Shi'ite Karrada district in central Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 23, including three policemen, police said.

KHALIDIYA - Two bodies were found in Khalidiya, 83 km (50 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. They had been shot and showed signs of torture.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb targeting a police patrol killed five people and wounded 10 in Karrada district in central Baghdad, police said.

KERBALA - Health officials said a further three people had died after a suicide car bombing at a crowded bus station in the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala on Saturday, taking the death toll to 43. They said 200 were wounded.

BASRA - British troops backing up an Iraqi police raid in Basra's Hayaniya district overnight shot five gunmen who opened fire on them, the British military said, adding it could not confirm whether the five had been killed or wounded. The U.S. military said in a statement earlier the gunmen had been killed.

MOSUL - Four people, including two Iraqi soldiers, were killed and 16 wounded when two oil trucks driven by suicide bombers exploded outside a military base in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

BAGHDAD - A bomb inside a small bus killed three people and wounded 11 in the Kadhimiya district of northwestern Baghdad, police said. Another police source put the death toll at six dead and 11 wounded by a suicide bomber on the bus.

BAIJI - Gunmen killed a police colonel and a policeman and wounded two other senior officers in a drive-by shooting in the oil city refinery of Baiji, north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army killed four insurgents and wounded 17 during the past 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs that exploded in quick succession killed 15 people and wounded 50 in a mostly Shi'ite neighbourhood in southwestern Baghdad on Sunday, police and hospital sources said. Mortar rounds also landed in the area.

TAJI - Two British military helicopters crashed near a large U.S. base north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing two soldiers and injuring five in what appeared to be a mid-air collision, the British Defence Ministry said. Earlier it was reported they were U.S. helicopters.

RAMADI - Mohammed Ismail, a local al-Qaeda leader, was found shot dead in the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi, west of Baghdad on Saturday, police Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Hamid said.

From Reuters/Alternet