Public Transit Returns to Baghdad

(AP) - Bombings and shootings killed more than 30 people across Iraq today, including high school students on their way to final exams, in a new round of violence ahead of next week's deadline for US troops to withdraw from urban areas. The attacks came two days after the year's deadliest strike, a truck bombing that killed at least 75 people near Kirkuk. More»

Violence is down, allowing Baghdad to return to its old tricks

(NEWSER) - Religious extremists and kidnappers are mostly gone now from Baghdad’s streets, clearing the way for the return of prostitutes and gamblers, the New York Times says. Violence—and thus nighttime curfews—in Iraq’s capital has subsided, allowing liquor stores and nightclubs to revert back to their Saddam-era numbers. “Everything is going back to its natural way,” said one man. More»

Attacks wreak havoc despite security for Iranian prez visit

(NEWSER) - At least 24 people were killed and 60 injured in a series of bombs in Baghdad early today, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the worst attack, a car packed with explosives blew up as it slammed into a security checkpoint, killing 21 people. "I saw a fireball in front of the shop," said a worker at a nearby hardware store. "I felt a hot liquid and I saw it was blood covering my face and hands." More»

September stats are lowest since summer of 2006

(NEWSER) - The death tolls among US soldiers and Iraqi civilians both fell significantly in September, hitting their lowest levels since the summer of 2006. Civilian deaths dropped 50% to 988, compared to 1,975 in August. The American death toll in September was 64, the fewest casualties since July 2006, the AP reports. More»

US forces control only a third of Iraqi capital, new report says

(NEWSER) - U.S. and Iraqi forces control only a fraction of Baghdad, despite the three-month-old troop surge. An internal assessment leaked to the Times found two thirds of the city's neighborhoods are still in open rebellion, although surge architects planned to have Baghdad under control by July. “We were way too optimistic,” says a senior officer. More»