OMEN
06-16-2006, 09:49 PM
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/WORLD/meast/06/16/iraq.main/vert.baquba.afp.gi.jpg
Iraqis gather around the coffins of five children who were killed while sleeping when a bomb next door brought the ceiling down on them
Separately, 5 sleeping children die when bomb next door goes off
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt attacked the Buratha Mosque in Baghdad during Friday prayers, killing 11 and wounding 25, police told CNN, two months after 80 people were killed there.
The attack in the Autaifiya neighborhood was carried out just after noon, despite a massive security crackdown involving 70,000 Iraqi troops and a ban on driving from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., designed to thwart such violence during Friday observances.
Buratha is a prominent mosque affiliated with the Shiite political movement Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
It was not clear if the imam -- parliament member Sheikh Jalaluddin al-Saghir, who's affiliated with the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance -- was at the mosque.
The attack that killed 80 took place April 7, also during Friday prayers, was thought to have been carried out by Sunnis, amid an upsurge in sectarian violence triggered by the February bombing of the Shiite Askariya Mosque in Samarra.
Also Friday, three civilians were killed and 16 others wounded during a mortar strike in a residential part of northern Baghdad around 12:20 p.m., police said.
An overnight curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. will begin in Baghdad on Friday until further notice, officials say.
Sleeping children killed
Five children were killed while they were sleeping outside with their family, next door to an empty house where a bomb planted by insurgents exploded. The roof of the family's house collapsed on them, police in Baquba said.
Three sisters and two brothers died. Four other people were wounded, police said.
The children who died were between 6 and 13 years old, hospital officials told CNN. They included 6-year-old twins.
Others wounded in the house include the mother, father and two unspecified relatives.
Police don't know what the motive was, but said the house belonged to a government employee involved in security at the Baquba hospital.
During the hot summer months, Iraqis frequently sleep in their gardens or on their roofs because of the nation's electricity shortage.
Sources: Haditha report done
Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell -- charged with leading an investigation into the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq -- has completed a report, according to military sources.
The investigation was to determine how the Haditha incident was reported and whether there was a coverup. No findings or date of the public release of the report were disclosed.
Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second highest in command in Iraq, will review the report.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is conducting a separate criminal inquiry.
The investigations stem from allegations that U.S. Marines killed up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November after a roadside bomb killed one of their own.
Other developments
# The U.S. Army has begun an investigation into the deaths last month "of three males in coalition force custody," the U.S. military said on Friday. Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commanding general of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, said the deaths occurred on or about May 9 in southern Salaheddin province, which is north of Baghdad.
# The U.S. House of Representatives was headed for an election-year vote Friday on a resolution that labels the Iraq war part of a global fight on terrorism and rules out a specific timeline for troop withdrawal. The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected -- by 93-6 -- a call to withdraw combat troops by year's end. Democrats consider the vote a politically motivated sham they say Republicans are using to depict Democrats as unsupportive of U.S. troops.
# The U.S. military on Thursday revealed for the first time a photo of the man said to be the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq: Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The senior al Qaeda in Iraq operative is believed to have taken over the terror network after al-Zarqawi was killed last week.
CNN
Iraqis gather around the coffins of five children who were killed while sleeping when a bomb next door brought the ceiling down on them
Separately, 5 sleeping children die when bomb next door goes off
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt attacked the Buratha Mosque in Baghdad during Friday prayers, killing 11 and wounding 25, police told CNN, two months after 80 people were killed there.
The attack in the Autaifiya neighborhood was carried out just after noon, despite a massive security crackdown involving 70,000 Iraqi troops and a ban on driving from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., designed to thwart such violence during Friday observances.
Buratha is a prominent mosque affiliated with the Shiite political movement Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
It was not clear if the imam -- parliament member Sheikh Jalaluddin al-Saghir, who's affiliated with the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance -- was at the mosque.
The attack that killed 80 took place April 7, also during Friday prayers, was thought to have been carried out by Sunnis, amid an upsurge in sectarian violence triggered by the February bombing of the Shiite Askariya Mosque in Samarra.
Also Friday, three civilians were killed and 16 others wounded during a mortar strike in a residential part of northern Baghdad around 12:20 p.m., police said.
An overnight curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. will begin in Baghdad on Friday until further notice, officials say.
Sleeping children killed
Five children were killed while they were sleeping outside with their family, next door to an empty house where a bomb planted by insurgents exploded. The roof of the family's house collapsed on them, police in Baquba said.
Three sisters and two brothers died. Four other people were wounded, police said.
The children who died were between 6 and 13 years old, hospital officials told CNN. They included 6-year-old twins.
Others wounded in the house include the mother, father and two unspecified relatives.
Police don't know what the motive was, but said the house belonged to a government employee involved in security at the Baquba hospital.
During the hot summer months, Iraqis frequently sleep in their gardens or on their roofs because of the nation's electricity shortage.
Sources: Haditha report done
Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell -- charged with leading an investigation into the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq -- has completed a report, according to military sources.
The investigation was to determine how the Haditha incident was reported and whether there was a coverup. No findings or date of the public release of the report were disclosed.
Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second highest in command in Iraq, will review the report.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is conducting a separate criminal inquiry.
The investigations stem from allegations that U.S. Marines killed up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November after a roadside bomb killed one of their own.
Other developments
# The U.S. Army has begun an investigation into the deaths last month "of three males in coalition force custody," the U.S. military said on Friday. Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commanding general of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, said the deaths occurred on or about May 9 in southern Salaheddin province, which is north of Baghdad.
# The U.S. House of Representatives was headed for an election-year vote Friday on a resolution that labels the Iraq war part of a global fight on terrorism and rules out a specific timeline for troop withdrawal. The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected -- by 93-6 -- a call to withdraw combat troops by year's end. Democrats consider the vote a politically motivated sham they say Republicans are using to depict Democrats as unsupportive of U.S. troops.
# The U.S. military on Thursday revealed for the first time a photo of the man said to be the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq: Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The senior al Qaeda in Iraq operative is believed to have taken over the terror network after al-Zarqawi was killed last week.
CNN