A bomber has blown up a minivan packed with explosives at a checkpoint near a central Baghdad hotel killing at least five people and wounding 10, police said.
The unusually large explosion on Monday as dawn broke was followed by the sound of automatic weapons fire, witnesses said.
The victims were believed to have been Iraqi private security guards employed by the hotel.
The above was sent in by ??? and is from Aljazeera's "Several die in Baghdad minivan blast."
Also from Aljazeera, we'll note "Many die in Baghdad truck bomb blast:"
A bomber in a flatbed truck laden with 500 lbs of explosives has killed at least 29 people and wounded 30 others outside a Baghdad police station, Iraqi police said.
The US military had initially said more than 40 civilians had been killed in the Sunday explosion in the Mashtal area of eastern Baghdad. This figure was not reconfirmed later.
The attack occurred at the Rashad police station during a blinding sandstorm. Security barricades prevented the bomber from reaching the station, but the huge blast destroyed two dozen cars and damaged nearby shops.
Body parts were strewn in a large area at the explosion site, Iraqi journalist Walid Khalid told Aljazeera. Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition.
Other attacks
One US soldier was killed and two were wounded on Sunday during a mortar attack near Balad north of Baghdad, the US military said.
Elsewhere, armed men killed the head of the city council in Samarra, 95 km north of Baghdad, police said.
Dominck e-mails to note "Gunmen kill senior Baghdad policeman" from Ireland's BreakingNews.ie.:
Lt Col Imad Hatam, deputy director of the Kazimiyah police station in the north of Iraq’s capital, was killed by unknown gunmen as he was leaving his home for work, a hospital official confirmed.
[. . .]
Later, gunmen shot dead Saad Kadhim, a captain in the new Iraqi intelligence service, in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Jihad, a police spokesman said.
Sara e-mails to note Lesley Abdela's "Iraq's war on women" (openDemocracy):
Insurgents and religious extremists use rape, acid and assassination to force Iraqi women to wear the veil -- the symbol of submission, first signal of further repression to come. Many Iraqi women have never worn the scarf. Now, dead bodies of girls and women are found in rivers and on waste ground with a veil tied around the head, as a message.
As well as unveiled women, key targets are those who wear make-up, who are well educated and in the professions, and who work with organisations connected with the coalition forces.
Political Islamists target universities in particular. A male university professor told me about a bright, highly intelligent young student from Babylon University, Hilla, south of Baghdad. She had never worn the scarf. Despite death threats to compel her to wear it, she refused to do so and continued to attend university. She was raped and murdered. The professor spoke of the mess made of her body. He has since told his daughter she must either wear a scarf or leave university. He doesn't want her to wear the scarf nor does he want her to leave university, but he is terrified for her life.
It is clear what the Islamic fundamentalist men want for women. Using the will of Allah as cover, they pursue women's conformity to almost any interpretation of the Qu'ran. They demand women's submission to any male authority. Women are to lead lives without voices, as the social, political and economic inferiors of men, even of 12-year-old boys.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. And there were computer problems tonight (thanks to the UK Computer Gurus for straightening them out) so my apologies for the long delay in getting anything posted. I'm also sure that I've missed some things that were sent in. If you were overlooked, e-mail again please.
