28 killed in three bomb blasts in Baghdad; Iraqi soldier kills two US security forces personnel; UN: Iraq stabilizing, but caution still required
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    • At least 28 Iraqi people were killed in three bomb explosions in Baghdad during the week. The first two blasts were car bombs and then a suicide bomber detonated his charges in the crowd that had assembled in the aftermath. The attacks took place during morning rush hour in the Shia area of Kasra and in Baquba, north of Baghdad. Reports noted that while attacks have decreased in number overall in Iraq in the last year, there have been a string of bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere in recent weeks, most of them targeting the police or security forces, government officials or civilians going to work in the morning1.

    Two American soldiers were killed and six others wounded by an Iraqi soldier in an attack in the northern city of Mosul. The Iraqi soldier attacked two platoons of American soldiers who had stopped at a combat outpost. The head of police operations in Mosul, Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Jubouri stated that the incident was set off by a quarrel between an American and an Iraqi soldier. In a similar incident in Mosul in December 2007, two American soldiers were killed and three wounded when a Iraqi soldier opened fire on a patrol2.

    The UN special representative to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura at the UN Security Council stated that the situation in the country was improving, but warned against overconfidence ahead of elections in January 2009. De Mistura, applauding the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq for helping the country’s democratic processes, called on Baghdad to deliver services, ensure security and create conditions for the conduct of free and fair elections3.

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