In another incident the same day, three more soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province, another statement said. One soldier was wounded. All nine were assigned to Task Force Lightning. Names were withheld pending family notification.
Also Tuesday, Shiite pilgrims came under attack again, police said, with at least eight killed as they streamed south from Baghdad on foot toward a shrine ahead of a Muslim holiday this weekend. Worshippers were heading to Karbala, 50 miles south of the Iraqi capital, before the holiday that marks the end of a 40-day mourning period after the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.There were at least three shootings and three bomb attacks against groups of pilgrims making the journey Tuesday. Four were killed when a parked car bomb exploded in western Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood, police said. More than a dozen people also were wounded in the attack, they said.
Gunmen opened fire on pilgrims in two separate incidents in Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, police said. Three people were killed and at least nine hurt, they said.Another pilgrim died in a roadside bomb attack in Waziriya, in northern Baghdad, police said. Five others were wounded in attacks across southern Baghdad.
But the violence did not only target pilgrims Tuesday. Five policemen died when a bomb exploded near their convoy in Maamil, a southeastern suburb of Baghdad, police said. Another police convoy was hit south of Baghdad, killing a commander and wounding four guards, police said.
Gunmen killed two men, including a former Baath Party member, in separate attacks south of Baghdad, police Capt. Muthana Khalid said. The first attack took place in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, when gunmen in a sedan killed a man who was walking in the street, Khalid said. The Baathist was killed when gunmen in a BMW attacked him in the al-Hur al-Gharbi area, about 16 miles west of Hillah, he said.
Also Tuesday, a roadside bomb exploded next to a fuel tanker in north Baghdad's Sarafiyah neighborhood, killing two people and wounding four others, police said.
Yesterday's news and 'analysis' at link.