Nur al-Cubicle

A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press. Daily timeline of events in Iraq as collected from stories and dispatches in the French and Italian media: Le Monde (Paris), Il Corriere della Sera (Milan), La Repubblica (Rome), L'Orient-Le Jour (Beirut) and occasionally from El Mundo (Madrid).

Friday, July 15, 2005

15 July 2005 Events in Iraq and in the Region

Haswa. A suicide car bomb killed five Iraqi soldiers and one civilian and wounded 17 civilians in Haswa, 48 km. south of Baghdad, officials said.

Baquba. Gunmen killed three Iraqi policemen Friday at a checkpoint near Baquba, 56 km north of Baghdad.

Baghdad. During a Friday sermon at a mosque, a prominent Sunni cleric condemned the violence, especially the Wednesday suicide bombing that killed the 18 children. Sheik Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarrai, a moderate member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, called the attack Wednesday a «crime» but added that the Americans and their international partners share some of the blame. The (U.S.-led) occupation that has destroyed the country and turned things upside down is responsible for that, al-Samarrai said.

Baghdad. U.S. Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Taluto said the level of violence in his sector, which includes the key cities of Tikrit, Kirkuk and Samarra, remains about where it was prior to the January election.

Al-Sharqat. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and a third wounded by a suicide carbombing at a checkpoint.

Latifiya. Three Iraqis were killed by unknown gunmen.

Samarra. Two persons were killed in clashes between rebels and US troope.

Bourhouz. Three police were killed and two wounded in clashes.

Teheran. Premier Ibrahim al-Jaafari starts an official visit to Iran to discuss water and power supply, as well as security.

Amman. Jordanian officials claim Islamists are training in Syria and that more and more foreign fighters are transiting through Syria.

Washington. Former CIA Director John Deutch tells the New York Times that the US should pull out of Iraq now and should renounce the use of its military strength to impose its will on other countries.

Washington. Pew Institute survey says most Muslim countries fear radical Islam. Morocco (73 %) and Pakistan (52 %) believe Islamism is a threat to their nations.

Baghdad. Mortar shells exploded near the headquarters of an Iraqi commando battalion in the Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah of north Baghdad. Three mortars also fell across the Tigris River in the Shiite Kazimiyah district.

23:58 Cairo. Magdy al-Nashar, a chemistry student arrested in Egypt on suspicion of a connection to the London bombings, had no link to al-Qaeda, say Egyptian authorities.

23:45 Baghdad. Casuality toll mounts. At least 30 people were killed and 111 wounded in at least twelve car bombs and explosions in the capital.

23:23 Magdy Nashar, arrested in Cairo and questioned on his role in the London bombing, was an extremely pious chemistry student with no criminal record, reports the British press. His father, Mahmoud Nashar, worked for the civil engineering firm of Othman Ahmed Othman company, one of the largest Arab contracting firms in the Middle East, known among other things for constructing many missile bases, reports the Daily Telegraph. Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said that Mr. Nashar had no link to al Qaeda in an interview with the Egyptian daily, al-Goumhouriyam. Mr. al-Adly said that information published about Nashar by the media was baseless and a result of "hasty conclusions."

23:10 Baghdad. Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr told al-Hurra TV that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was in Baghdad two weeks ago and escaped the capital.

23:05 Ottawa. Canada to send a contingent of 2,000 troops and special forces to Afghanistan over the next few months, says General Rick Hillier, chief of the defense staff.

22:22 Baghdad. 28 dead, including 17 soldiers and police, in 12 carbombings targeting security forces.

21:17 Kirkuk. Two suicide bombers were killed in Kirkuk as the bombs which they were transporting detonated prematurely.

20:52 London. Explosive used in London bombing was not of military orgin. BBC reports that the explosive used was homemade.

19:40 Jerusalaem. Premier Ariel Sharon says he is given the Israeli Army "carte blance" to combat Palestinian radicals.

19:02 Baghdad. Five corpses recovered. Five corpses, shot in the neck and wearing handcuffs, were found in the Maamel quarter of Baghdad. The victims are between 30 and 40 years of age. It is not known if they were Shi'a or Sunni.

19:24 Baghdad. Talabani escapes assassination attempt. President Jalal Talabani escaped a bomb placed on the Hussein Bridge. Three of bodyguards were killed and numerous bystanders wounded.

17:55. Baghdad. Three people were killed, including 2 police, and 36 wounded, including another 7 police, by a suicide carbomber who rammed an elite police detachment in the Bayaa of southwest Baghdad.

17:45 Baghdad. A suicide carbomber detonated his vehicle behind a US Humvee in the Amariyah quarter of west Baghdad while US soldiers were conducting house-to-house searches. An Iraqi civilian was kiiled and five others wounded.

17:05 Baghdad. 6 Iraqi police killed in west Baghdad when suicide carbomber rammed their patrol. Eleven others were wounded.

17:00 Balad. A suicide motorcycle bomb rammed an Iraqi military convoy, killing two soldiers and wounded two others, including a civilian.

14:00 Baghdad. A booby-trapped car exploded as a US convoy passed nearby in the Hay Hay al-Amanah quarter of southeast Baghdad. Three civilians were injured.

16:05 Rome. Injured Italians evacuated to Rome. Following a road accident near Nassiriya, Caporalmaggiore Valentino Michielotto and Caporalmaggiore Paolo Chiarillo were evacuated to Italy, along with the corpse of Sergente Davide Casagrante.

15:17 Nablus. Three Hamas militants were killed in a blast in an abandoned building near the town of Salfit.

14:54 Cairo. Magdi el-Nashar, said to have fabricated the bombs used in the London bombings, was arrested in Cairo, where he is being interrogaged.

14:48 Teheran. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, an ultraconservative and head of the Council of Guardians, says the real Taliban is Britain and the USA.

14:45 Gaza. Israel has begun construciton of two temporary military bases on the Gaza Strip.

14:37 Baghdad. A suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle at a checkpoint near an Iraqi army base in the ash-Shaab neighborhood of northern Baghdad. 8 Iraqis--civilians and security personnel--were killed and 20 others injured. Firefighters tried to douse the flames near one blast site which targetted Iraqi troops in the north of the city, where several cars were destroyed and bloodsoaked survivors argued with police. The (Iraqi) army vehicles were parking right here when a speeding Daewoo car approached and exploded. It split in two parts, eyewitness Raed Salman said. The bodies were too charred to immediately identify how many were Iraqi soldiers and how many civilians.

14:26 Leeds. British security forces find traces of an explosive, triacetone triperoxide, also known as TATP in a flat in Leeds. The explosive is of the same type as that used by shoebomber Richard Reid.

14:00 Baghdad. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 14 people wounded, including eight soldiers, when a suicide pick-up truck detonated at the entrance to the former Defense Ministry building in northern Baghdad. The building, in Baghdad's Old City, is now used as Camp Bab al-Mouadham. Smoking wreckage of cars was also visible at a blast site Iraqi troops ran around and gunshots could be heard after the blast. A US soldier was wounded in the attack.

13:43 Trebil. Two Marines were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb near Trebil along Iraq's border with Jordan. The victims were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2 of the 2nd Marine Division and were conducting combat operations at the time. In a separate incident in the remote western desert, U.S. Marines said two of their troops had died in a roadside bomb strike on Wednesday.

12:45 Baghdad. Two Iraqi soldiers died and six were wounded when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near an Iraqi patrol in Andalus Square in central Baghdad. Al-Qaida's wing in Iraq claimed responsibility.

12:25 Baghdad. Music store attacked. Masked radical Islamists attacked a music store, wounding 11 with gunfire.

12:00 Baghdad. A car bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy in the Rustamiyah (New Baghdad) area of southeastern Baghdad, injuring two Americans. Al-Qaida's wing in Iraq claimed responsibility. Eyewitness Basim Mohammed said he saw a car bomber ram an armored U.S. convoy at high speed, but saw no casualties.

09:26 Chicago. A young Marine, 19-year-old Moises Hernandez, who feared returning to Iraq persuaded his cousin to shoot him in the leg, then told police he was hit by random gang gunfire.

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