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Last week in Iraq

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 8, 2007

Attacks

- A bomb hit a popular market in Tuz Khormato on April 1, killing three people and wounding four. A suicide car bomber quickly followed by a suicide truck bomber struck an Iraqi army headquarters in Mosul, killing at least two people and wounding 22, including 15 soldiers, police said.

- A suicide truck bomber crashed into a police station in Kirkuk on Monday. At least 15 people were killed and nearly 200 were wounded. Bombings elsewhere in Iraq killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 40, and police found the bodies of at least 35 victims of sectarian killings.

- According to police and morgue reports, 18 people were killed or found dead Tuesday, a one-day sharp drop in the number of people known to have been killed in sectarian violence nationwide.

- Gunmen on Wednesday abducted 22 Shiite shepherds who were tending thousands of sheep and had wandered near Amiriya, a dangerous Sunni area, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Mishawi said. At least 34 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Wednesday.

- The U.S. military reported Thursday that eight U.S. soldiers were killed in the Baghdad area over three days as militants fought back against a security plan in its eighth week. A U.S. Army helicopter went down south of the capital, wounding four, and an Iraqi official said insurgents fired on it. Also Thursday, four British soldiers, including two women, died in an ambush after their patrol struck a roadside bomb and was hit by small-arms fire. At least 49 people were killed in shootings, bombings and mortar attacks across Iraq on Thursday, including 20 men whose bullet-riddled bodies were brought to a hospital in Baqubah a day after they were abducted at an illegal checkpoint.

- A suspected al-Qaida in Iraq suicide bomber smashed a truck loaded with TNT and toxic chlorine gas into a police checkpoint in Ramadi on Friday, killing at least 27 people. Also Friday, Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin said fewer arms and fighters from Syria are entering Iraq, but a major reason is that the terrorists of al-Qaida in Iraq now need less foreign help.

Military

- For just the second time since the war began, the Army is sending large units back to Iraq without giving them at least a year at home, U.S. defense officials said Monday. The move signaled how stretched the U.S. fighting force has become.

- Friendly fire may have killed two soldiers in Ramadi on Feb. 2, Army officials said Wednesday. The Army said it is investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Montana and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Arizona.

- The strains of fighting in Iraq have forced the Marine Corps to forgo training in jungle warfare and other traditional skills, Gen. James T. Conway, the top general, said Wednesday, adding, "We've simply got to get back some of those skills."

- About 13,000 National Guard troops are expected to be notified soon they could be sent to Iraq around the first of next year, military officials said Friday. The alert is expected to affect Oklahoma, Indiana and Arkansas.

Rebuilding

- After a heavily guarded trip to a Baghdad market, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on April 1 that a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the capital was working and said Americans lacked a "full picture" of the progress.

- Sunni politicians on Monday denounced remarks attributed to Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, opposing a draft law that would allow former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party to resume government positions.

- Citing improved security in the capital, the Iraqi government said Tuesday that it was shortening the Baghdad curfew by two hours. But bloodshed has increased elsewhere after insurgents and militia members moved out of the capital.

- Radi al-Radhi, who runs Iraq's Public Integrity Commission, said Wednesday that $8-billion in government money was wasted or stolen over the past three years and that he was threatened with death after opening investigations.

- The Iraqi government said Wednesday that it was extending a security operation from Baghdad to other areas.

- Two legislators were expelled from anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political bloc Wednesday for meeting with U.S. officials.

- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday ordered pension payments for senior officers of Hussein's military and offered a return to service for lower-ranking soldiers, a major step aimed at defusing the Sunni insurgency and meeting U.S. benchmarks.

Deaths

As of Saturday, 3,270 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

- Army Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, Amelia, Va.; explosion April 1; southwest of Baghdad.

- Army Staff Sgt. Shane R. Becker, 35, Helena, Mont.; small-arms fire Tuesday; Baghdad.

- Army Spc. William G. Bowling, 24, Beattyville, Ky.; explosion April 1; Baghdad.

- Army Pfc. James J. Coon, 22, Walnut Creek, Calif.; explosion Wednesday; Balad.

- Army Pfc. Gabriel J. Figueroa, 20, Baldwin Park, Calif.; small-arms fire Tuesday; Baghdad.

- Army Spc. Wilfred Flores Jr., 20, Lawton, Okla.; explosion March 31; southwest of Baghdad.

- Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King, 28, Marion, Ind.; explosion Monday; Amiriya.

- Marine Pfc. Miguel A. Marcial III, 19, Secaucus, N.J.; April 1; Anbar province.

- Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell, 30, Deer Park, Texas; explosion April 1; Baghdad.

- Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, 26, San Juan, Puerto Rico; explosion April 1; Baghdad.

- Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Olsen, 20, Eagan, Minn.; combat Monday; Anbar province.

- Army Spc. Brian E. Ritzberg, 24, New York City; explosion Monday; Kirkuk.

- Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph C. Schwedler, 27, Crystal Falls, Mich.; Friday; Anbar province.

- Army Spc. Jason A. Shaffer, 28, Derry, Pa.; explosion Thursday; Baqubah.

- Army 1st Lt. Neale M. Shank, 25, Fort Wayne, Ind.; noncombat incident March 31; Baghdad.

- Army Spc. Curtis R. Spivey, 25, Chula Vista, Calif.; Monday of wounds from an explosion on Sept. 16; Baghdad.

- Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, 25, Spring Hope, N.C.; explosion April 1; Baghdad.

[Last modified April 8, 2007, 00:21:20]