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Assaults 'are not coincidental,' coalition official says
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 83 people were killed and 233 wounded in a wave of insurgent attacks across Iraq on Thursday, six days ahead of the scheduled handover of power, according to Iraqi sources.
The assaults, which appeared to be coordinated, hit police facilities in Ba'qubah, Ramadi and Mosul.
Mosul was hit particularly hard, with at least 30 people killed and 170 people wounded.
These attacks "show a level of coordination," a senior coalition military official said. "They are not coincidental."
Hospital and coalition officials say the northern city of Mosul has been virtually paralyzed.
Armed insurgents are freely roaming the streets of some parts of Ba'qubah, north of the capital, according to a member of the city council. Rasam Ismail al-Ekilli.
Two soldiers, members of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, were killed when their patrol was ambushed in Ba'qubah. A third soldier died in a car bomb attack in Mosul.
Insurgents also attacked a police station in the city, and several Iraqi police officers died in the gunbattle that ensued, an Iraqi Ministry of Health official said.
Included in the day's death toll are at least 18 Iraqi police officers and three Iraqi Army personnel.
U.S. forces responded with airstrikes on insurgent positions in Ba'qubah, according to military officials with the 1st ID.
The assault on Mosul began shortly after 9 a.m. when three simultaneous car bombs hit separate targets, killing one U.S. soldier and several Iraqi policemen, according to a coalition news release.
Iraqi police said seven of its officers died and four were wounded in an attack on a police station.
In the attack on Ramadi, multiple rocket-propelled grenades hit the central police station in Ramadi, killing Iraqi police officers and a member of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Iraq's new army.
A coalition military official said bodies were being pulled out of the rubble.
Twelve police were wounded along with three ICDC members, according to a local journalist.
At a Baghdad checkpoint, a suicide bomber detonated himself in a southern section of Baghdad called Abu Dasheer. Two Iraqi Army personnel and three civilians were killed. Five other civilians were wounded. There were American casualties as well, but it is not known whether any were killed.
In Fallujah, U.S. forces battled insurgents and military officials, reporters said. According to journalists, American forces faced fierce resistance as they tried to enter a eastern industrial section of the city around 8 a.m. (12 a.m. EDT).
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said its actions in Fallujah were "strictly defensive in nature." The United States has attacked militant "safe house" targets in Fallujah twice this week, killing about 38 people.
U.S. warplanes and helicopters were taking part in the operation. A U.S. Cobra helicopter made an emergency landing outside of the city after coming under small arms fire, a senior coalition military official said.
The aircrew was recovered in good condition.
Assaults 'are not coincidental,' coalition official says
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 83 people were killed and 233 wounded in a wave of insurgent attacks across Iraq on Thursday, six days ahead of the scheduled handover of power, according to Iraqi sources.
The assaults, which appeared to be coordinated, hit police facilities in Ba'qubah, Ramadi and Mosul.
Mosul was hit particularly hard, with at least 30 people killed and 170 people wounded.
These attacks "show a level of coordination," a senior coalition military official said. "They are not coincidental."
Hospital and coalition officials say the northern city of Mosul has been virtually paralyzed.
Armed insurgents are freely roaming the streets of some parts of Ba'qubah, north of the capital, according to a member of the city council. Rasam Ismail al-Ekilli.
Two soldiers, members of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, were killed when their patrol was ambushed in Ba'qubah. A third soldier died in a car bomb attack in Mosul.
Insurgents also attacked a police station in the city, and several Iraqi police officers died in the gunbattle that ensued, an Iraqi Ministry of Health official said.
Included in the day's death toll are at least 18 Iraqi police officers and three Iraqi Army personnel.
U.S. forces responded with airstrikes on insurgent positions in Ba'qubah, according to military officials with the 1st ID.
The assault on Mosul began shortly after 9 a.m. when three simultaneous car bombs hit separate targets, killing one U.S. soldier and several Iraqi policemen, according to a coalition news release.
Iraqi police said seven of its officers died and four were wounded in an attack on a police station.
In the attack on Ramadi, multiple rocket-propelled grenades hit the central police station in Ramadi, killing Iraqi police officers and a member of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Iraq's new army.
A coalition military official said bodies were being pulled out of the rubble.
Twelve police were wounded along with three ICDC members, according to a local journalist.
At a Baghdad checkpoint, a suicide bomber detonated himself in a southern section of Baghdad called Abu Dasheer. Two Iraqi Army personnel and three civilians were killed. Five other civilians were wounded. There were American casualties as well, but it is not known whether any were killed.
In Fallujah, U.S. forces battled insurgents and military officials, reporters said. According to journalists, American forces faced fierce resistance as they tried to enter a eastern industrial section of the city around 8 a.m. (12 a.m. EDT).
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said its actions in Fallujah were "strictly defensive in nature." The United States has attacked militant "safe house" targets in Fallujah twice this week, killing about 38 people.
U.S. warplanes and helicopters were taking part in the operation. A U.S. Cobra helicopter made an emergency landing outside of the city after coming under small arms fire, a senior coalition military official said.
The aircrew was recovered in good condition.
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