The U.S. military also says that on August 11 it detained 60 people in Baghdad whom it suspects of having links to the terrorist network Al-Qaeda. The military said the group was "planning and conducting training for future attacks." The arrests were made at a funeral in a southern neighborhood of Baghdad.
There has been a sharp rise in violence recently in Iraq's capital, but the violence today was not confined to Baghdad.
In Al-Basrah, Iraq's second-largest city, suspected Islamic extremists killed two civilians in a shop selling videos and cassette tapes.
In Ba'qubah, north of the capital, gunmen killed a police officer. Two civilians were also killed in drive-by shootings in the town.
In Al-Hillah, a clan chieftain was murdered by unidentified gunmen, while a grocer was shot dead in Al-Iskandiriyah. Two other people were killed in Al-Amara.
In addition, the bodies of 15 people killed on an undetermined date were found during the day. The bodies of 12 men -- all of them bound and blindfolded, and most of them shot in the head -- were found in the River Tigris. Another body was found in Baghdad and two in Kifil, in Hillah Province, which lies to the south of the capital.
(Reuters, AFP, AP)
