A Soldiers Blog

A high-ranking official at Iraq's Defence Ministry was shot dead in a hail of bullets last night in Baghdad, a ministry spokesman said today.
" One of the director generals in the Ministry of Defence, Issam Jassem Kadhem, was assassinated at 10pm yesterday by unknown attackers who opened fire on him in the Saydia neighbourhood where he lives ," spokesman Radhi Badr told AFP.

A fuel tanker truck raced toward a police station in southwest Baghdad early Monday, detonating and killing at least nine people and wounding about 52 others, Iraqi officials and witnesses said.
The tanker exploded as policemen took daily assignments from their officers at the station in Seidiyeh neighborhood, a wounded policemen said.

• Fallujah remains a flashpoint for problems, as a U.S. airstrike approved by the Iraqi government killed at least 11 yesterday. Whether or not this will reignite the battle for Fallujah is an open question.

• Joe looks at the allegations that Iraqi PM Allawi may have personally executed captured foreign jihadis .

• A suicide bomber attempted to kill Iraq's justice minister Saturday by ramming into his car. The minister survived, but five other people died in the attempt, as terrorists continue to target Iraqi leaders in hopes of preventing democracy from taking hold in Iraq.

A group led by suspected al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi offered a reward of $282,000 on Sunday for the killing of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
"We in Khalid bin al-Walid Brigade announce to the Iraqi people a reward of 200,000 Jordanian dinars ($282,000) to whoever gets us Allawi's head," said a group statement posted on the site.
The authenticity of the message could not be verified and it was unclear why the offer was made in Jordanian currency.
The brigade, which said it was part of Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad Group, blasted Allawi as an "American agent." Several earlier purported Zarqawi messages have threatened Allawi.

Two car bombs targeting police exploded in the city of Tikrit today killing two police officers and wounding five others, Iraqi authorities said.
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One car bomb exploded near the Albu-Ajil police station in Tikrit this morning killing two police and wounding two others, according to Iraqi police Lt. Nabil Abdel-Hamid.
Another car bomb exploded near a police training centre in the city, wounding three officers, according to Iraqi police Capt. Louai Qahtan.

A military strik e was launched on a home in the Iraqi city of Fallujah today, the United States command said.
At least 10 people were killed, according to hospital and local officials.
Explosions rocked the restive city and angry crowds gathered near the building that was hit.
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Angry crowds gathered around the house and they were chanting "God is great."

A car bomb struck the Iraqi justice minister's car as it passed through western Baghdad on Saturday, the latest in a wave of assassination attempts on government officials. Malik Dohan al-Hassan was unhurt but five bodyguards were killed.
The blast hit the tail end of al-Hassan's convoy at an intersection 500 yards from his home. At nearly the same time, a car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad. One person was killed and 25 were wounded, hospital officials said.

A ransom of $6 million was offered and paid out to the Iraqi rebels holding Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz hostage, to ensure his release before President Arroyo's scheduled State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 26, a high level Philippine intelligence officer told the Tribune yesterday.

TAKING advantage of the government's changed stance against terrorism, the New People's Army said it would not release the soldiers it captured until the government suspends all military and police operations in the Bicol region.