The Week in Iraq

This week in Iraq

by Lily Hamourtziadou

13 Aug 2006

On Tuesday 8 August, on Wednesday 9 August, and on Saturday 12 August, there were over 30 civilian deaths per day.

Today, Sunday 13 August there were over 40, while Thursday 10 August saw the highest number of violent deaths of civilians: 64, with 35 having been killed in a single incident, a suicide bombing in Najaf outside a Shiite shrine.

Thursday was the bloodiest day, with 35 deaths in Najaf, 9 in Baghdad restaurants, and with 5 members of the same family killed in Al-Muradiyah.

On Sunday, the week ended with a bang, when 3 successive explosions killed at least 20 people (Reuters puts the number at 25) in a mostly Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad. Women and children were among the dead, as a 5-storey apartment block collapsed. Earlier, 14 dead bodies had been found in the river.
In a particularly sad funeral, 35 still unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave in Al-Kout.

The bodies of 12 men were found in the river also on Saturday.

Friday 11 August saw the lowest number of civilian deaths -just 9- but it was also a day when US forces killed 26 'rebels' in Ramadi. US forces also killed 8 'rebels' on Saturday. It is claimed US forces acted in self-defence, after they came under attack by the 'rebels'. However, no US soldiers have been reported killed or injured in the attacks.

Totally senseless killing of the week: according to an Al-Sharqiyah report, US troops opened fire and killed an Iraqi traffic warden as they were driving past him in a column. This happened today, Sunday 13 August.

UPDATE: The number of dead in the Baghdad explosions has now risen to at least 57, although some reports put the number as high 78, making Sunday the bloodiest day of this week.