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Last week in Iraq

By wire services
Published June 5, 2005

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Insurgent attacks May 29, including an assault on a facility where militants were detained and a car bombing that killed two guards at the Ministry of Oil, killed at least 30 people, including a British soldier.

Two suicide bombers killed about 30 police officers Monday.

On Wednesday, a suicide car bomber attacked the main checkpoint to Baghdad's international airport, wounding 15 Iraqis, the U.S. military said.

Insurgents killed 38 people in a series of rapid-fire attacks Thursday, including three suicide car bombings within an hour and a driveby shooting at a busy Baghdad market.

The U.S. military nearly set off a sectarian crisis Monday by mistakenly arresting the leader of Iraq's top Sunni Muslim political party. It released him the same day.

An Iraqi military aircraft crashed about 50 miles northeast of Baqubah on Monday during a mission with four American airmen - all based in Florida - and one Iraqi on board. All were killed.

U.S. and Iraqi troops battled foreign fighters near the Syrian border and found the body of Anbar province's missing governor, the highest-ranking Iraqi official kidnapped since the fall of Saddam Hussein, authorities said Tuesday.

U.S. Marines discovered Thursday an elaborate series of underground bunkers built into an old rock quarry north of the town of Karma in Anbar province and used recently by insurgents, the military said Saturday.

Thousands of Iraqi security forces began a sweep for insurgents in Baghdad on May 29, establishing checkpoints on highways into the capital and clashing with militants in several neighborhoods west of downtown. On Friday, an influential Sunni association called for its end, saying it overwhelmingly targets members of its religious minority and has led to the detention of hundreds of people.

Insurgent violence has claimed the lives of 12,000 Iraqis in the past 18 months, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said Thursday.

As of Saturday, 1,668 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

Marine 1st Sgt. Michael S. Barnhill, 39, Folsom, Calif.; explosion May 28; near Haqlaniyah.

Army Staff Sgt. Virgil R. Case, 37, Mountain Home, Idaho; noncombat injuries Wednesday; Kirkuk.

Army Staff Sgt. Victor M. Cortes III, 29, Erie, Pa.; noncombat injuries May 29; Baghdad.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven M. Langmack, 33, Seattle; small-arms fire Tuesday; Qaim.

Army Sgt. Miguel A. Ramos, 39, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; explosion Tuesday; Baghdad.

Army Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, Jacksonville, Ark.; explosion May 28; Mosul.

Army Lt. Col. Albert E. Smart, 41, San Antonio, Texas; noncombat illness May 28; Doha, Qatar.

Marine Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, 22, Snohomish, Wash.; small-arms fire Monday; near Ramadi.

[Last modified June 5, 2005, 02:15:25]