Attacks Kill 44 in Iraq As Ramadan Ends By HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press Writer
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Militants targeted police recruits and shoppers rounding up last-minute sweets and delicacies Sunday for a feast to mark the end of the Ramadan holy month, the highlight of the Muslim year. At least 44 Iraqis were reported killed across the country.
The U.S. military announced the deaths of a Marine and four soldiers, raising to 83 the number of American servicemembers killed in October - the highest monthly toll this year. The pace of U.S. deaths could make October the deadliest month in two years. Three soldiers were killed Sunday, two by small arms fire west of the capital and one by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad, the military said. On Saturday, a Marine was killed during combat in restive Anbar province and another soldier died in fighting in Salahuddin province.
"There will be no holiday in Iraq," said Abu Marwa, a 46-year-old Sunni Muslim father of three who owns a mobile phone shop in the capital. "Anyone who says otherwise is a liar."
In Sunday's bloodiest attack, gunmen in five sedans ambushed a convoy of buses carrying police recruits near the city of Baqouba 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 15 and wounding 25 others, said provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan al-Bawi. The recruits were returning home after an induction ceremony at a police base south of Baqouba.
A series of bombs also ripped through a Baghdad market and bakery packed with holiday shoppers, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens, police said. The attack came a day after a massive bicycle-bomb and mortar attack on an outdoor market killed 19 and wounded scores in Mahmoudiyah, just south of the capital.
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Link:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME"There will be no holiday in Iraq," said Abu Marwa, a 46-year-old Sunni Muslim father of three who owns a mobile phone shop in the capital. "Anyone who says otherwise is a liar."
Couldn't have said it any better than that.
:banghead:
Link:
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/USfatalities.html