Bomb dismantled in Basra, US bombing in west Iraq
The Iraqi police said that it had dismantled a booby trapped car in Basra city, south of the country, on Thursday at dawn, which was placed near a position where another car blew up on Wednesday and claimed the life of 16 persons and injuring of other 21 in front of one restaurant visited often by Iraqi policemen.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated himself in a booby trapped car on Thursday near a procession that included several members of the American security forces. The police said that one passerby man was injured but no damage was inflected in the members of the American procession as a result of the explosion which caused a large black smoke near al-Rasafa street in al-Karaddah area.
Four American security guards escorting the American diplomats were killed in a bomb explosion in al-Basra.
In the west of the country, the American war planes on Wednesday raided a shelter presumed to be for al-Qaida organization, in al-Jaramil, west of Iraq. No announcement was made on casualties.
In southern Baghdad, the Iraqi police found 16 unidentified bodies. The police said that 14 bodies were found in al-Muhammadeyah 30 km to the south of Baghdad. The bodies had been shot to death. Two other bodies were found hand-tightened in al-Roustomeyah near Baghdad.
Earlier, Sunni sides accused groups belong to the Iraqi ministry of interior of detaining and torturing 36 persons whose bodies were found in a remote area near the border with Iran in August. However, the ministry of interior denied these accusations.
On the other hand, a high ranking official at the Iraqi defense ministry was announced killed together with a colonel from the Maghaweir police force, while other 11 persons including four members of the Iraqi security were injured in different incidents.
Meantime, the American and Iraqi forces continued large scale military operations in Tel-Afer city north of the country. The operation which started since one week, resulted, according to the American army, in killing and detention of 200 gunmen in the city which is close to the Syrian borders.