Security Summary: July 19, 2007

Above: Police academy graduates demonstrate their skills at a graduation ceremony for over 500 cadets in Najaf today.

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces killed a senior foreign al Qaeda figure last month in Iraq, the military said. Ahmen Sancar, also know as Khattab al-Turki, was killed at the same time as two other al Qaeda figures of Turkish origin, Khalid al-Turki and Khalil al-Turki, on June 23, near Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.

ISKANDARIYA - The body of Lieutenant-Colonel Salam Shanoun, chief of police of Iskandariya, was found with the bodies of his five bodyguards, police said. They were abducted during clashes on Wednesday in the town, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen blew up the minaret of a Sunni mosque in the Jihad district of southwest Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed by small arms fire south of Baghdad on Thursday, the military said, announcing a total of six deaths. A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter in east Baghdad on Wednesday and a soldier was killed south of the capital on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD - At least two people were killed by a roadside bomb in Kadhimayn, a Shi'ite district in northern Baghdad, police said. Four other people were wounded.

BAGHDAD - Two U.S. soldiers were charged with murdering an Iraqi last month near the northern city of Kirkuk, the military said.

ARBIL - Turkey's army shelled Kurdish rebel targets just inside the border of northern Iraq on Wednesday, Kurdish officials said.

BAGHDAD - One person was killed and seven were wounded by two mortar shells that struck near the main gate of Ibn-Alnafees hospital in central Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - An Iraqi army officer was killed by gunmen who stormed his home in Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Fifteen bodies were found dumped around the capital on Wednesday, police said.

MOSUL - Eight bodies with gunshot wounds, including two women, were found dumped in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet