BAGHDAD, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - US forces killed 49 'criminals' in fierce fighting with militants in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Sunday during a raid targeting an Iranian-linked insurgent, the military said.

Medics at four hospitals confirmed 17 dead, including a boy and a girl, but US military spokesman Major Winfield Danielson told AFP there were no civilian casualties and no reports of American losses.

BAGHDAD, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Fierce fighting between US forces and militants in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City killed an estimated 49 'criminals', the US military said Sunday.

US forces were drawn into the fighting during an attempt to seize a suspected member of a Iranian-backed Shiite cell in the sprawling Baghdad suburb, a statement said.

'The operation's objective was an individual reported to be a long-time Special Groups member specialising in kidnapping operations,' it said.

BAGHDAD, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - The US military said it had killed 49 'criminals' during a raid on Sunday in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City.

'The operation's objective was an individual reported to be a long-time Special Groups member specialising in kidnapping operations,' a statement from the military said.

'Special Groups' is an American military term for what it says are secret Shiite cells which wage acts of 'terrorism' in Iraq with the financial and military backing of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards units.

BAGHDAD, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Fierce fighting between US forces and militants in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City killed at least 10 people including a boy and a girl early on Sunday, medics and security officials said.

More than 40 others were wounded in the firefight after the US military called in air support to help ground forces they say came under attack during an operation to capture a suspected Iranian-linked kidnapper.

American commanders said 'six criminals' were killed in the firefight, but Iraqi security officials put the number of dead at 13.

BAGHDAD, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Fierce fighting between the US military and militants in Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 40 early on Sunday, medics and security officials said.

The clashes broke out as US forces carried out a raid in the impoverished neighbourhood which is loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, security officials said.

Medics at Sadr City's Imam Ali Hospital and Sadr Hospital confirmed the casualties and said the dead included a child and a girl.

BAGHDAD, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - A suicide car bomber who triggered his explosives outside a Baghdad restaurant at evening meal time on Monday killed three people and wounded 20, including women and children, officials said.

The blast occurred in the Harthiya neighbourhood of Baghdad's mainly Sunni western Mansour district as families were arriving for dinner, an interior ministry official said.

The restaurant is beside a toy store, the official added.

BAGHDAD, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - A car bomb ripped through a police patrol in a crowded square in central Baghdad on Friday, killing two policemen and two civilians and wounding 15 people, security officials said.

The attack came around noon (0900 GMT) when Tahriya square was crowded with shoppers stocking up for the Eid al-Fitr festival which began for Sunni Arabs in Iraq on Thursday evening and will start for Shiites at sunset on Friday.

Among the wounded were three policemen, the officials said.

BAGHDAD, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a cafe in the Iraqi capital on Thursday shortly after the Eid al-Fitr holiday began, killing at least eight people and wounding 25 others, officials said.

The bomber struck at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) as young men were relaxing at the cafe as the Muslim holiday started in an area called New Baghdad in the southeast of the city, interior and defence ministry officials said.

BAGHDAD, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a popular cafe in the Iraqi capital on Thursday killing at least six people and wounding 21 others, officials said.

The bomber struck at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) as young men were playing dominos and relaxing at the cafe in an area called New Baghdad in the southeast of the city, interior and defence ministry officials said.

The wounded, some in a critical state, were taken to the main Al-Kindi hospital in the centre of Baghdad, the officials added.

BAGHDAD, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Ferryman Hisham freely acknowledges that the poor and dangerous conditions of Baghdad's roads that drive residents of the capital to despair are, for him at least, a godsend.

With bridges over the Tigris river damaged, blocked to traffic or heavily congested, his boating business is booming.

'I have more and more customers,' says Hisham as he fires up the engines of his ferry and sets off with yet another load of about 20 passengers across the sluggish, muddy Tigris River that snakes through the capital.

BAGHDAD, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - At least 12 people were killed and more than 60 wounded in four bombs blasts across Baghdad on Tuesday, including one which ripped through crowds in a central square, Iraqi officials said.

A car bomb exploded in the popular Al-Khulani square about midday (0900 GMT), killing eight people including women and children, a defence ministry official said.

At least 35 people were wounded in the blast, which sent thick palls of black smoke billowing into the air, pedestrians fleeing in panic and brought traffic to a standstill.

BAGHDAD, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - At least eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded in three bombs blasts in Baghdad on Tuesday, including one which ripped through crowds in a central square, Iraqi officials said.

A car bomb exploded in the popular Al-Khulani square about midday (0900 GMT), killing five people including women and children, a defence ministry official said.

At least 25 people were injured in the blast, which sent thick palls of black smoke billowing into the air, pedestrians fleeing in panic and brought traffic to a standstill.

BAGHDAD, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - A car bomb ripped through crowds in a central Baghdad square on Tuesday, killing at least five people and wounding 25, an Iraqi defence ministry official said.

The bomb exploded about midday (0900 GMT) in popular Al-Khulani square, the official said, adding that women and children were among the dead.

BAGHDAD, Oct 6, 2007 (AFP) - A convoy carrying Baghdad's Shiite governor came under automatic gunfire in the capital Saturday but he escaped unharmed, a source close to the city's top official said.

Several of Governor Hussein al-Tahan's bodyguards were wounded in the attack in the mainly Sunni Saydiya neighbourhood, the source told AFP.

Tahan was there for a meeting with local officials and members of a civilian armed group formed to oppose Al-Al Qaeda when the attack took place, he added.

BAGHDAD, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - US forces have detained three senior workers at Baghdad international airport suspected of involvement in kidnappings and attacks on Iraqi and American troops, the US military said on Friday.

The three were arrested at the airport Thursday, a military statement said.

'The corrupt workers are suspected of having positioned themselves in several high-level jobs at the airport to establish a base and conduct kidnapping operations against Iraqi Security Forces and innocent civilians,' the statement said.

BAGHDAD, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - A car bomb killed a passerby in Baghdad's southeastern Jadida suburb on Thursday, police said, a day after a twin bombing in the Iraqi capital killed eight people.

Two people were also wounded in the latest blast, which occurred in a quiet street, police said.

The two car bombs on Wednesday rocked a crowded market place in Baghdad's southwestern Baya district and also wounded 28 people.

A surge of violence across Iraq since Monday has killed at least 70 people and wounded hundreds.

BAGHDAD, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi forces backed by US forces raided a military academy in Baghdad and arrested more than 20 people believed involved in killings and kidnappings, Iraqi and American officials said on Wednesday.

The swoop was carried out on Tuesday by Iraqi Special Operations Forces on the Iraqi Military Academy in Baghdad's Rustamiyah district.

'The ministry's special task force raided the military academy to arrest officials who are wanted by the justice,' defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.

BAGHDAD, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - A double car-bomb attack in central Baghdad on Tuesday killed six people and wounded at least 20, security and medical officials said.

The bombs exploded within seconds of each other outside Al-Rafidain bank in Zayunah, a mixed inner neighbourhood, at around 11:00 am (0700 GMT), the officials said.

'The blasts occurred 30 seconds apart,' a security official said.

A medical official said five bodies were taken to the Ibn Nafis hospital in central Baghdad, where 20 wounded people were also admitted.

BAGHDAD, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Four people were killed in two car bomb attacks in Baghdad on Thursday, one of which killed two Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint in the teeming Sadr City slum, security officials said.

The bomb that exploded at Sadr City, bastion of the Mahdi Army Shiite militia, was hidden in a car being towed by a breakdown truck, a security official said.

When the tow-truck reached the checkpoint, a man on a motorcycle who had been following the vehicle used a mobile telephone to trigger the explosion and then sped off, the official said.

BAGHDAD, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Violence across Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since before the bombing of a Shiite mosque in February 2006 that sparked savage sectarian bloodletting, a US military commander said on Thursday.

There has also been a 50 percent fall-off in violence in Baghdad since January, Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, the number two commander of US-led forces in Iraq, told a press conference in Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi and US forces are winning back control of Baghdad from insurgents and militiamen, with violence down by 50 percent since January, military commanders said on Thursday.

'We have success on the ground... life is returning to normal,' said Iraqi General Qanbar Abud, chief of Baghdad operations command. 'We are now winning. We never thought it could be such a success.'

BAGHDAD, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - A car bomb exploded near a police patrol in central Baghdad during peak morning rush hour on Thursday, killing one person and injuring nine, Iraqi officials said.

The blast occurred near a stadium in the dangerous Zayuna neighbourhood, where a large police academy is sited and where bombs and firefights are regular occurrences.

According to interior and defence ministry officials, a civilian passer-by was killed while nine people, including two policemen, were injured.

BAGHDAD, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Armed contractors employed by private US security firm Blackwater USA gained a reputation of shooting first and not bothering to ask questions later as they charged through Iraq protecting US personnel and property.

The North Carolina firm, whose licence was cancelled by the Iraqi government on Monday after its personnel were involved in a deadly shootout in Baghdad, has never been far from controversy in war-ravaged Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Iraq has ordered a probe into a shootout in Baghdad involving a US diplomatic convoy which killed eight people, as Washington's mission said on Monday the motorcade was attacked by insurgents.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned what he called the 'criminal' response of the contractors guarding the convoy while state television said the the government was seeking to have the private security firm barred from Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday condemned a 'criminal operation' by a foreign security company involved in a shootout in central Baghdad which killed at least eight bystanders.

'Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemns and strongly denounces the criminal operation committed by one of the foreign security companies in Al-Nissur Square,' state television quoted a statement from his office as saying.

BAGHDAD, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - Nine people were killed in a car bombing in a crowded market street in west Baghdad followed by fierce clashes between insurgents and security forces on Sunday, security and medical officials said.

The car bomb ripped through crowds outside a shopping mall in the mainly Sunni area of Mansour, killing two people and wounding seven, the officials said.

Insurgents opened fire on security forces as they rushed to the scene, a security offcial said, adding that seven civilians were killed and 12 wounded in the firefights.

BAGHDAD, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Ten people were killed and 15 hurt when a suicide bomber blew up his car outside a bakery in southwest Baghdad Saturday evening as Muslims were preparing to break the Ramadan fast, officials said.

The blast occurred while people were waiting to buy bread in the mainly Shiite district of Amel about half an hour before the start of the 'iftar' meal that breaks the daily fast, an interior ministry official and a medic said.

BAGHDAD, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Ten people were killed and 15 hurt when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a bakery in southwest Baghdad Saturday evening as Muslims were preparing to break the Ramadan fast, officials said.

The blast occurred while people were queuing for bread in the mainly Shiite district of Amel around half an hour before the start of the 'iftar' meal that breaks the daily fast, an interior ministry official and a medic said.

BAGHDAD, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - A bomb ripped through a crowd of civilians at a public square in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, shattering the calm on the first day of Ramadan and killing at least four people, Iraqi officials said.

The bomb exploded on Square 83 in Baghdad's northeastern Shiite district of Talbiyah, interior and defence ministry officials said.

The interior ministry said four people were killed and 10 wounded while a defence ministry official put the toll at six killed and 18 wounded.

BAGHDAD, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - A private security company's convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in central Baghdad on Wednesday in an attack that killed one bystander and wounded five, an official said.

The force of the blast flipped one of the vehicles in the convoy of the foreign-operated security company, an interior ministry official said.

The attack took place mid-morning in Beirut Square in the east of the capital.

Thousands of private security contractors operate in war-torn Iraq and are often targeted by insurgents opposed to the presence of foreigners.

BAGHDAD, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - The quicker US troops leave Iraq the better, says 60-year-old Zahra, trudging home from a Baghdad market with a tiny bag of fruit and dates. The melon she'd hoped to buy had proved beyond her means.

'The Americans have brought us nothing but hardship. We want them all out of here immediately,' she says, her eyes blazing angrily.

News that General David Petraeus, the chief commander of the US forces in Iraq, has announced a limited drawdown of forces in the coming months brings little cheer to the mother of five.

BAGHDAD, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqis watching the stuttering start of proceedings before the US Congress on Monday which could influence whether US troops remain in their country, were unimpressed.

'It is like a theatre,' said teacher Abdullah Kadhim, 58, who was watching the Congressional hearing live on Al-Hurra television at his friend's general store in an inner Baghdad neighbourhood.

'Each day they say there is a new report. They say they will bring a new change in Iraq. We can only hope there will finally be progress in security.'

BAGHDAD, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Iraq will ease the nightly curfew in Baghdad during the holy month of Ramadan which begins this week, Brigadier General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, said on Monday.

Atta said the curfew in the capital would come into effect at midnight (2000 GMT) instead of 11.00 pm but would continue to be enforced until 5:00 am (0100 GMT).

He added that the authorities had also decided to scrap the weekly vehicle curfew that usually applies between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm on Fridays, for the duration of the fasting month.

BAGHDAD, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle in the Baghdad Shiite district of Sadr City on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding 22 more, security officials said.

The bomber attempted to break through a checkpoint at the district's Al-Nassar police station but police opened fire and he blew up the vehicle outside a nearby eatery, the officials said.

Shiite neighbourhoods of the capital have been frequent targets for attack by Sunni extremists in the sectarian conflict that has gripped the country for the past 18 months.

BAGHDAD, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - A US air strike on a Baghdad neighbourhood before dawn on Thursday killed 14 civilians while they were sleeping and destroyed several houses, Iraqi interior and defence ministry officials said.

The officials said US helicopters fired on houses in the Al-Washash neighbourhood of Mansour district between 2.00 am and 3.00 am while in pursuit of insurgents.

At least 10 people were wounded and were admitted to the nearby Al-Yarmuk hospital.

BAGHDAD, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - A roadside bomb ripped through a crowded bus station in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding at least 11, a medic said.

The bomb went off near Al-Hamza square as buses were picking up commuters to ferry them to work, an interior ministry official said.

A medic at the Sadr Hospital in Sadr City said one body had been brought to the facility while 11 wounded people were admitted.

BAGHDAD, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - A car bombing in central Baghdad on Tuesday killed one person and wounded five, officials said, as the US military blamed 'criminal militia' for a wave of attacks in the embattled capital.

The roadside bomb exploded in the upscale central Zayuna neighbourhood, according to officials in the defence and interior ministries.

The US military said in a statement that 'criminal militia' had launched 11 attacks in Baghdad since August 30, variously using rockets, car bombs and small arms.

BAGHDAD, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - A car bomb shattered the calm of a north Baghdad Shiite neighbourhood on Sunday, killing four civilians and wounding eight, medical and security officials said.

The blast was at 3:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the major Adan intersection in northwestern Kadhimiyah, they said.

One medic said the bodies of four people were brought to Al-Kadhimiyah hospital and that eight wounded were also admitted after the first major car bomb attack in the Iraqi capital in more than a week.

BAGHDAD, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi authorities banned two-wheelers and hand carts in Baghdad and its outskirts for an indefinite period from 6:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Saturday, an Iraqi army official said.

'An indefinite curfew has been imposed on two-wheelers and hand carts but not on other vehicles such as cars,' Brigadier General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi military in Baghdad, told AFP.

State television Al-Iraqiya earlier incorrectly quoted Atta as saying a total ban on all vehicles had been imposed for an indefinite period.