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There were a number of events in 2006 in Iraq.

See also: 2006, Iraq, Iraqi insurgency, Iraq war

Events

January

• January 4
  • Suicide bomber struck a Shiite funeral in Karbala, killing 32 and wounding 40.[1]

• January 5
  • 50 people were killed and 80 wounded by a suicide bomb attack in the Iraqi city of Karbala.[2]
  • 50 people were killed and 40 injured in a suicide attack on a line of police recruits in Ramadi.[3]
  • Insurgent violence shut down Iraq's largest oil refinery.[4]

• January 6
  • Thousands of Shiites demonstrated in Baghdad after two days of bloodshed that claimed almost 200 lives.[5]
  • A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have died in Iraq due to wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had worn extra body armor. The armor has been available since 2003.[6]
  • Paul Bremer, who led the U.S. civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, NBC television said on Friday.[7]

• January 7
  • Demonstrations in the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah turned violent leaving two dead and two dozen injured.[8]

February

• February 22 - The Al Askari Mosque bombing. Although no injuries occurred in the blast, the bombing was hugely offensive to Shi'ites and resulted in violence over the following days. The Iraqi government has stated that 379 people were killed in the subsequent attacks, although the Washington Post reported that over 1,300 people were killed.

• February 28 - A bomber blew himself up near a petrol station in one of the Iraqi capital's Shia areas just before curfew and hours after other blasts killed 35.[9]

March

• March 24
  • Joint Center for Operational Analysis at United States Department of Defense on March 24, 2006, released a report compiled from captured Iraqi intelligence. The report stated that Russia aided Saddams regime with correct information on the coalition invasion. Iraqi Perspectives Report

• March 25
  • 40 people killed or wounded in gun battle near Mahmoudiya.[10]
  • US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said on Saturday, March 25, that militias, many with strong ties to powerful Shiite leaders and well entrenched in security and police forces, are killing more Iraqis than terrorists.[11]

• March 26
  • 30 beheaded bodies found in Iraq.[12]

• March 27
  • Memo shows US president was firmly set on the path to war two months before the 2003 Iraq invasion.[13]
  • 40 people were killed and 20 others wounded in recruitment centre suicide bomb attack.[14]

• March 29
  • Around 30-40 bodies are being found on the streets of Baghdad every day, morgue officials said.[15]

• March 30
  • Pentagon requests hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funds for military construction in Iraq.[16]

April

• April 22
  • British brigadier attacks America's 'Hollywood' generals.[17]

May

• May 10 - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani made a public announcement urging all political parties to "quell this bleeding" after figures showed sectarian violence killed 1,091 in Baghdad the prior month.^[1]

June

• 5 June

A SEABEE convoy moving between Al Quim and Al Asad was ambushed by several IED's. Two members of NMCB-25 were killed. Petty Officer First Class Equipment Operator Gary Rovinski and Petty Officer Second Class Hospital Corpsman Jamie Jaenke.

• 7 June
  • Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is killed by an American air strike. Zarqawi was a Jordanian militant who had called for attacks against Shi'ites. Most Iraqis hoped his death will help ease sectarian bloodshed, much of which was masterminded by him.

July

• July 1 - Attacks in the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City in Baghdad killed 66 people.

• July 9 - Shia gunmen allegedly massacred 40 Sunni Muslims in Baghdad after setting up fake security checkpoints a day after the Shi'ite Zahra mosque in the area was bombed.

• July 18 - A car bomb killed 53 people in the holy Shi'ite city of Kufa.

• In July 2006, Baghdad's central morgue received 1,855 bodies, the most since the bombing of a Shia shrine in February prompted a wave of sectarian killings. The Iraqi government stated that 3,438 Iraqis died around the country that month.^[2]

August

• August 20 - Sunni snipers shot and killed at least 22 Shiites during a pilgrimage in Baghdad.

Deaths

• December 30 - Saddam Hussein (b. 1937), executed by hanging

References

1. ^ BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq head urges end to bloodshed
2. ^ July deadliest month in Iraq, tallies show - International Herald Tribune