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Last week in Iraq

By the Times Staff
Published August 19, 2007

Attacks

- At least 37 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence nationwide Aug. 12. Nearly half of that number, 17, were tortured bodies discovered in Baghdad, officials said.

- Four suicide bombers struck nearly simultaneously in a Kurdish-speaking area in northwestern Iraq late Tuesday, killing at least 400 people, Iraqi military and local officials said. North of Baghdad, a suicide truck bomber devastated a key bridge on the highway linking Baghdad with Mosul. Police said at least 10 people died.

- A car bomb struck a parking garage Thursday in Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 17. Nineteen bodies were found across the capital.

Military

- American soldiers were lured into a trap south of Baghdad and five were killed, the military reported Aug. 12. A sniper killed one soldier, then lured his comrades to a booby-trapped house where four died in an explosion Aug. 11. Four others were wounded.

- Helicopter gunships attacked suspected insurgent hideouts and U.S. and Iraqi soldiers staged simultaneous raids across Iraq on Monday as coalition forces unleashed a new offensive named Operation Phantom Strike.

- The Army's top general said Tuesday that lengthening U.S. tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond the current 15 months would be too stressful and risky for troops.

- The U.S. military will begin reducing the troop buildup next spring and will have completed the withdrawal by next August, the No. 2 American commander in Iraq said Friday.

Rebuilding

- Adnan al-Dulaimi, Iraq's most senior Sunni politician, issued a desperate appeal Aug. 12 for Arab nations to help stop what he called an "unprecedented genocide campaign" by Shiite militias armed, trained and controlled by Iran. He said Iranian Shiites were on the brink of total control in Baghdad and soon would threaten Sunni Arab regimes that predominate in the Mideast.

- The Iraqi High Tribunal announced Monday that it would put 15 loyalists of former dictator Saddam Hussein on trial Aug. 21 on charges connected with the suppression of a Shiite uprising in 1991.

- The Iraqi prime minister and president on Thursday announced a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates refused to join but the door remained open to them.

- An Interpol arrest order for Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter and his first wife has been circulated, Iraqi officials said Friday. The move came a year after Iraqi authorities put the daughter, Raghad Saddam Hussein, and her mother, Sajida Khairalla Tulfa, on a "most wanted" list of 41 people accused of providing support to insurgents in Iraq.

Deaths

As of Saturday, 3,706 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

- Army Staff Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett, 29, Mashpee, Mass.; noncombat incident Aug. 9; Baghdad.

- Army Staff Sgt. Eric D. Cottrell, 39, Pittsview, Ala.; explosion Monday; Qayyarah.

- Army Staff Sgt. Joan J. Duran, 24, Roxbury, Mass.; noncombat incident Aug. 10; Baqubah.

- Army Pfc. William L. Edwards, 23, Houston; small-arms fire Aug. 11; Arab Jabour.

- Army Staff Sgt. Sean P. Fisher, 29, Santee, Calif.; helicopter crash Tuesday; Taqaddum.

- Army Pfc. Shawn D. Hensel, 20, Logansport, Ind.; combat Tuesday; Baghdad.

- Army Spc. Alun R. Howells, 20, Parlin, Colo.; combat Monday; Baghdad.

- Army Spc. Steven R. Jewell, 26, Bridgeton, N.C.; helicopter crash Tuesday; Taqaddum.

- Army Chief Warrant Officer Christopher C. Johnson, 31, Michigan; helicopter crash Tuesday; Taqaddum.

- Army Pfc. Willard M. Kerchief III, 21, Evansville, Ind.; combat Thursday; Taramiyah.

- Army Sgt. Scott L. Kirkpatrick, 26, Reston, Va.; explosion Aug. 11; Arab Jabour.

- Army Sgt. Andrew W. Lancaster, 23, Stockton, Ill.; explosion Aug. 11; Arab Jabour.

- Army Pfc. Juan M. Lopez Jr., 23, San Antonio, Texas; explosion Monday; Qayyarah.

- Army Chief Warrant Officer Jackie L. McFarlane Jr., 30, Virginia Beach, Va.; helicopter crash Tuesday; Taqaddum.

- Army Pfc. Paulomarko U. Pacificador, 24, Shirley, N.Y.; explosion Monday; Qayyarah.

- Army Spc. Justin O. Penrod, 24, Mahomet, Ill.; explosion Aug. 11; Arab Jabour.

- Army Staff Sgt. Robert R. Pirelli, 29, Franklin, Mass.; small-arms fire Wednesday; Diyala province.

- Army Staff Sgt. Stanley B. Reynolds, 37, Rock, W.Va.; helicopter crash Tuesday; Taqaddum.

- Army Staff Sgt. William D. Scates, 31, Oklahoma City; explosion Aug. 11; Arab Jabour.

- Marine Sgt. Michael E. Tayaotao, 27, Sunnyvale, Calif.; combat Aug. 9; Anbar province.

[Last modified August 19, 2007, 02:09:43]