Security Summary: April 7, 2007

A U.S. army soldier with the 3-2 Stryker Brigade takes up position behind a torn election poster during a patrol in Baghdad today

BAQUBA - Police in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, said they found nine bodies with gunshot wounds and showing signs of torture. They said another 18 had been spotted in a river running through the town. It was unclear if the victims were from a mass kidnapping.

DIWANIYA - U.S. and Iraqi troops fought gunmen for a second day in Diwaniya. A source at the local hospital said it had received a total of 13 bodies and 41 wounded in the past 48 hours. This included six people killed in a missile strike on a home in the city centre. The U.S. military said only one person had been killed when a warplane fired on gunmen carrying rocket -propelled grenade launchers.

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi troops raided a house belonging to a Sunni political party in Baghdad and seized a large number of weapons, including bomb-making equipment and rockets, the U.S. military said on Saturday. Sources in the Sunni Accordance Front said it belonged to Khalaf Alian, a leading member of the political bloc.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol in eastern Baghdad killed one policeman and wounded two, police said.

SAMARRA - A suicide bomber targeting an Iraqi security forces checkpoint killed five people near Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAQUBA - The body of a mosque imam was found in a northern suburb of Baquba, about 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The imam had been kidnapped two days ago.

TAL AFAR - Seven bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the head in Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad. One of the bodies was decapitated, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded, killing one person and wounding five in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed one U.S. soldier and wounded three others when it exploded in western Baghdad on Friday, the U.S. military said.

RAMADI - The death toll from a chlorine truck bomb attack on a police checkpoint in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Friday rose to 12 civilians, the U.S. military said. The blast wounded 43, including eight women and five children.

BAGHDAD - An explosively formed projectile killed one U.S. soldier and wounded four when it blew up next to a U.S. patrol in eastern Baghdad on Friday, the U.S. military said.

HIMREEN - Gunmen kidnapped 10 people who were travelling in a minivan near Himreen, 100 km (60 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - The bodies of 11 people were found dumped across Baghdad on Friday, police said.

SUWAYRA - Insurgents killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded six others when they attacked an Iraqi army base on Friday evening near Suwayra, just south of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed Muhannad Ibrahim, a public works engineer, in front of his home on Friday in southern Baghdad's Saidiya district, police said.

NUMANIYA - Police retrieved two bodies from a small river near the town of Numaniya, 120 km (72 miles) south of Baghdad, on Friday, police said. The men had numerous gunshot wounds.

From Reuters/Alternet