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Last week in Iraq

By Times Wires
Published November 11, 2007

Attacks

-Iraqi troops discovered 22 bodies in a mass grave northwest of Baghdad on Nov. 3, the U.S. military said Tuesday, the second mass grave found in the area in less than a month.

-Forty-nine people - including suspected insurgents - were killed or their bodies found across the country, an Interior Ministry official said Wednesday. Seventeen unidentified bodies were found in Baqubah, north of Baghdad.

Military

-The U.S. military announced six new deaths Tuesday, making 2007 the bloodiest year for American troops in Iraq. The announcement brought the annual toll to 853 - three more than the previous worst of 850 in 2004.

-U.S. authorities freed 500 Iraqi prisoners Thursday in an ongoing push to empty American jails of detainees no longer deemed a threat. But the military says it's still holding 25,800 Iraqis waiting to face charges or be given freedom.

Rebuilding

-According to an Iraqi Red Crescent report released Monday, 2.3-million Iraqis have been driven from their homes since the war began in 2003.

-The Iraqi interior minister said Wednesday that he would authorize raids by his security forces on Western security firms to ensure that they were complying with tightened licensing requirements on guns and other weaponry, setting up the possibility of violent confrontations between the Iraqis and heavily armed Western guards.

-Iraqi officials said for the first time Wednesday that they accept estimates by American officials that 190,000 pistols and automatic rifles supplied by the United States to Iraqi forces in 2004 and 2005 were unaccounted for. The missing weapons are under investigation.

Kurdish-Turkish conflict

-Kurdish PKK rebels on Nov. 4 released eight Turkish soldiers they had kidnapped Oct. 21 during an ambush inside Turkey.

-On Monday, President Bush promised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help fight the PKK rebel group, declaring it "an enemy of Turkey, a free Iraq and the United States" and offering to share intelligence. Turkey has threatened attacks in Iraq.

Deaths

As of Saturday, 3,861 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

-Army 2nd Lt. Tracy Lynn Alger, 30, New Auburn, Wis.; explosion Thursday; Shubayshen.

-Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin R. Bewley, 27, Hector, Ark.; explosion Monday; Salahuddin province.

-Army Pfc. Dwane A. Covert Jr., 20, Tonawanda, N.Y.; noncombat incident Nov. 3; Al-Sahra.

-Army Sgt. Carletta S. Davis, 34, Anchorage, Alaska; explosion Monday; Tal Al-Dahab.

-Army Sgt. John D. Linde, 30, New York City; explosion Monday; Tal Al-Dahab.

-Army Pfc. Adam J. Muller, 21, Underhill, Vt.; explosion Monday; Tal Al-Dahab.

-Army Spc. Christine M. Ndururi, 21, Dracut, Mass.; noncombat-related illness Tuesday; Kuwait.

-Army Sgt. Daniel J. Shaw, 23, West Seneca, N.Y.; Monday; Taji.

-Army Sgt. Derek T. Stenroos, 24, North Pole, Alaska; explosion Monday; Tal Al-Dahab.

-Army Capt. Benjamin D. Tiffner, 31, West Virginia; explosion Wednesday; Baghdad.

-Army Sgt. Lui Tumanuvao, 29, Fagaalu, American Samoa; explosion Wednesday; Arab Jabour.

[Last modified November 11, 2007, 02:46:19]