A series of attacks using guns, bombs and mortar shells killed 13 Iraqis in the capital on Thursday, officials said. Two U.S. Army troops also died during combat missions.
The two American soldiers were killed by small arms fire during combat operations in Iraq earlier in the week, the military said Thursday. On Tuesday, a soldier from the Army's Multinational Corps-Iraq was killed by small arms fire during an operation in Baghdad, the military said.
Elsewhere, American ground and air forces killed nine suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq on Thursday during a raid in Youssifiyah, a rural area about 12 miles south of Baghdad, the military said.
During the raid in Youssifiyah, U.S. soldiers called in air support, which opened fire, killing nine suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members, several of whom were later found to be wearing suicide vests, the military said. The soldiers also detained nine other suspects during the raid, the military said.
In Thursday's deadliest attack in Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a bakery, killing nine people, police said. Those killed in the shooting at 7:30 a.m. in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Zayouna included employees of the bakery and its customers, said police Capt. Mohammed Abdel-Ghani.
According to the AP, three civilians and two Iraqi policeman also died in four other attacks in Baghdad on Thursday morning.
A roadside bomb exploded at 7 a.m. in another part of Zayouna, killing one Iraqi policemen and injuring three, said police Lt. Bilal Ali.
In Amil, a section of western Baghdad, a motorcycle rigged with explosives killed two civilians and wounded one at 8 a.m., said police 1st. Lt. Mutaz Salahhidine.
At 8:45 a.m., two mortar shells hit a police checkpoint near the Interior Ministry in eastern Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding one, said policeman Mohammed Kheyoun.
Ten minutes later, a roadside bomb exploded beneath a parked car in Palestine street, a main road in eastern Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding six, said police Lt. Ali Muhsin.
Additionally, police said the bullet-riddled, blindfolded bodies of four Iraqis were found in two locations of eastern Baghdad at 11 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Each victim had been tied up and tortured.
