Security Summary: June 13, 2007

Above: Iraqis react with sadness in Karbala today at news of the second bombing of the al-Asariya mosque in Samarra.

SAMARRA - Suspected al Qaeda militants blew up the two minarets of a revered Shi'ite shrine in the city of Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad. The Golden Mosque had already been badly damaged in February 2006, triggering a wave of sectarian violence. Curfews were imposed in Samarra and Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - Four civilians were killed and 10 wounded when several mortar rounds hit residential areas in south and southwestern districts of Baghdad, police said.

TAJI - One Iraqi soldier was killed and four wounded by a roadside bomb attack on their patrol in Taji, 20 km north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Iraqi forces detained 15 suspected al-Qaeda members in western Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - U.S. military forces detained 24 suspected insurgents and arrested three others in an operation south of Baghdad on Sunday and Monday, the U.S. military said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed a college student in central Mosul, police said.

RAMADI - Four Iraqi policemen were killed and 11 officers wounded by a suicide car bomber targeting their checkpoint outside Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. marine was killed in combat operations on Tuesday in Anbar province, to the west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. It earlier reported the death of two soldiers in separate incidents in Baghdad on Monday and early Tuesday morning.

MANDILI - A bomb targeting the police chief of the town of Mandili killed three of his bodyguards and wounded five other people, including the police chief, police said. Mandili is in Dilyala Province, near the Iranian border.

BAQUBA - One person was killed and six wounded by a mortar attack in the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - The bodies of 26 people were found in different parts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said. They had been shot.

KIRKUK - A bridge southwest of Kirkuk connecting this northern city with Tikrit was blown up overnight in a roadside bomb attack, police said. Tikrit is 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad. No casualties were reported. It was the latest of a number of attacks on bridges in recent months.

KHAN BANI SAAD - One person was killed and eight wounded on Tuesday when a truck laden with chlorine exploded near an Iraqi army base in the town of Khan Bani Saad, about 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen kidnapped Filaih Wadi Mijthab, managing editor of the state-run al-Sabah daily newspaper, in Habibiya in eastern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Two people were killed and six wounded by a roadside bomb on Tuesday in Bab al-Muadham in central Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed three policemen and set their vehicle on fire near Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet