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Last week in Iraq

By TIMES STAFF
Published June 24, 2007

Attacks

- Car bombs and other violence left at least 33 people dead in Baghdad on Monday following days of calm brought on by a curfew. At least 111 people were killed or found dead nationwide.

- A truck bomb struck the Khulani mosque, one of the most revered Shiite mosques in Baghdad, on Tuesday, killing at least 60 and wounding scores more. In all, 142 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence Tuesday.

- Police and morgue officials said 60 people died in sectarian-related violence on Wednesday, and 32 of the bodies were found in Baghdad.

- Rounds of mortar or rocket fire hit the U.S.-controlled Green Zone in Baghdad on Thursday, and an official said at least one round hit a parking lot used by the Iraqi prime minister. The barrage occurred a day after the U.S. military acknowledged "an increasing pattern of attacks" against the complex despite a security crackdown now in its fifth month.

Military

- Conditions in Iraq will not improve sufficiently by September to justify a drawdown of U.S. military forces, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said on June 17.

- U.S. and Iraqi forces on Monday launched attacks on Baghdad's northern and southern flanks to clear out Sunni insurgents, al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen who fled the capital and Anbar province during a security operation, military officials said.

- U.S. and Iraqi soldiers found 24 severely malnourished children on June 10 in a Baghdad orphanage, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Some of the children were tied to their beds and too weak to stand, it said. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Mahmoud Mohammed al-Radhi accused the soldiers of staging a photograph of the children.

- U.S. forces and allied militants intensified operations Wednesday in Baghdad and around the capital in Operation Phantom Thunder. In the largest offensive, intense gunbattles were reported in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, as U.S. and Iraqi forces sought to clear the city of al-Qaida fighters.

- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday he does not anticipate extending U.S. troop deployments in Iraq beyond 15 months, calling the idea a "worst-case scenario." Gates also endorsed the military's efforts to work with some Iraqi insurgents who initially fought against U.S. forces.

- American attack helicopters fired on al-Qaida militants trying to slip past an Iraqi checkpoint on Friday, killing 17 of them in the fourth day of an offensive to oust the fighters entrenched in Baqubah. More than three-quarters of the city's al-Qaida leadership fled before the Americans moved into Baqubah this week, U.S. officials said.

Rebuilding

- President Bush had a nearly hourlong secure video teleconference with Iraqi leaders on Monday and came away impressed and reassured by the progress they're making on political, security and economic reforms, the White House said.

- The Iraq Study Group may be coming back. The House adopted legislation Thursday to revive the bipartisan panel of prominent former U.S. officials who last year said Bush should change course on the war. A new assessment by the panel would offer lawmakers an independent alternative to an administration progress report due in September.

- A proposed United Nations resolution would immediately end the work of U.N. inspection bodies which, under Saddam Hussein's regime, played a pivotal role in monitoring Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs, the Associated Press reported Friday. Since 2005, the United States has been trying to get the Security Council to wrap up the work of the inspectors, who left Iraq just before the 2003 invasion and were barred by the United States from returning.

Deaths

As of Saturday, 3, 555 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

- Army Staff Sgt. Michael A. Bechert, 24, New Castle, Ind.; June 14 in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds from explosion May 30 in Baghdad.

- Army Spc. Val J. Borm, 21, Sidney, Neb.; explosion June 14; Kirkuk.

- Army Spc. Dustin R. Brisky, 26, Round Rock, Texas; explosion June 14; Tallil.

- Army Spc. Farid Elazzouzi, 26, Paterson, N.J.; explosion June 14; Kirkuk.

- Army Spc. Zachary A. Grass, 34, Beach City, Ohio; explosion June 16; Rashidiyah.

- Army Spc. Darryl W. Linder, 23, Hickory, N.C.; explosion Tuesday; Baqubah.

- Marine Sgt. Shawn P. Martin, 30, Delmar, N.Y.; combat Wednesday; Anbar province.

- Army Pfc. Joshua S. Modgling, 22, Las Vegas; explosion Tuesday; Mohammed al Ali.

-Army Sgt. Richard K. Parker, 26, Phillips, Maine; died June 14 after explosion June 13; Scania.

- Army Pfc. Larry Parks Jr., 24, Altoona, Pa.; explosion Monday; Arab Jabor.

- Army Pfc. Michael P. Pittman, 34, Davenport, Iowa; small-arms fire and explosion June 15; Baghdad.

- Army Sgt. Derek T. Roberts, 24, Gold River, Calif.; explosion June 14; Kirkuk.

- Army Sgt. Eric L. Snell, 35, Trenton, N.J.; small-arms fire Monday; Baghdad.

- Army Sgt. Danny R. Soto, 24, Houston; explosion June 16; Rashidiyah.

- Army Pfc. Raymond N. Spencer Jr., 23, Carmichael, Calif.; combat Thursday; Baghdad.

- Army Pfc. Jacob T. Tracy, 20, Palestine, Ill.; explosion Monday; Balad.

- Army 1st Lt. Frank B. Walkup IV, 23, Woodbury, Tenn.; explosion June 16; Rashaad.

- Army Pfc. David A. Wilkey Jr., 22, Elkhart, Ind.; explosion Monday; Baghdad.

- Marine Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Wilson, 28, Duluth, Ga.; combat Wednesday; Anbar province.

- Army Sgt. 1st Class William A. Zapfe, 35, Muldraugh, Ky.; explosion Tuesday; Mohammed al Ali.

[Last modified June 24, 2007, 00:18:59]