In Baghdad, after a brief lull in major attacks, today saw two high profile bombings as well as a kidnapping of foreign workers in the capital. One bombing occurred at a Shia mosque in the Amil neighborhood in the western Rashid district. A suicide car bomber killed ten Iraqis and wounded at least 35 more in the attack. The second bombing occurred in a largely Shia neighborhood in central Baghdad. “At least 22 people were killed and 55 wounded when a parked minibus exploded in central Baghdad,” Al Jazeera reported. “The bomb went off in a busy commercial area where many day labourers, mostly Shias, often wait for work.”
Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
provide security before conducting house to house searches
in the Sadiyah section of Baghdad, Iraq on May 6.
IraqSlogger notes that there are conflicting accounts of the kidnapping in Baghdad. Early reports indicated a small number of German advisers to the Ministry of Higher Education were abducted by several dozen men dressed in Iraqi Police uniforms. Now, it appears that “five Brits had been abducted, including four bodyguards and a finance expert,” but reports of several Germans captured persist. Today’s attacks occur as Iraqi and Coalition forces continue clearing operations in the Baghdad districts. U.S. and Iraqi security forces recently started clearing operations in the East Rashid district (note that today’s suicide attack occurred in West Rashid.) Also, clearing operations were conducted in the northern section of the Adhamiyah District on May 26. The newly formed and yet to reported on 3rd “War Eagle” Battalion,1st Brigade of the 11th Iraqi Army Division participated in the operation. Nine insurgents were detained. On Monday, Task Force 145 captured nine al Qaeda during raids in Mosul and Haditha. The Haditha raid netted “a Syrian suspected of facilitating foreign fighters and his Iraqi liaison.” Today, Coalition forces captured 14 al Qaeda during raids in Baghdad, Mosul, Fallujah, and Taji. The Baghdad raid resulted in the capture of the “al-Qaeda in Iraq emir in charge of the Hay al-Jamah area of the city,” while the Mosul raid resulted in the detention of the former “emir of Ansar al-Sunna in Mosul,” who had fled to Syria in 2005. The Iraqi Police also captured nine al Qaeda suspects in Samarra after a tip from an anonymous informant.
