·       Six US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in Hit.

·       US soldier killed while on patrol in downtown al-Fallujah.

·       Four US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing in al-Habbaniyah.

·       US rounds up bearded men in Abu Ghurayb town, accusing them of "terrorism."

·       Religious council issues fatwa that permits Sunnis to pray at home, shave their beards, in order to avoid American mass arrest campaigns.

·       Two US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing near al-Mushahadah.

·       US soldier reported killed in Resistance bombing in al-Mundhiriyah, near Iranian border.

Al-Anbar Province.

Hit.

Six US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in Hit.

In a dispatch posted at 4:20pm Mecca time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters attacked a US foot patrol on as-Sakalat public road in the city of Hit, some 140km west of Baghdad.

The Hit correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons and anti-personnel rockets attacked the patrol, killing six US troops and wounding another eight of them.

After the ambush, US forces surrounded the area and brought in military helicopters to evacuate the dead and wounded.

Al-Fallujah.

Resistance fighters assault US military camp in housing complex in 'Amiriyat al-Fallujah.

In a dispatch posted at 9:20pm Mecca time Wednesday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters had assaulted the US military headquarters in the housing complex in the area of 'Amiriyat al-Fallujah, south of the city of al-Fallujah, at about 6pm Wednesday evening.

The al-Fallujah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a number of masked Resistance fighters armed with RPG7 rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades attacked the headquarters.  An Iraqi Resistance marksman was able to pick off a US sniper perched in an observation tower in the camp, enabling the Resistance fighters to make good their withdrawal from the area after the attack without suffering any casualties.  The Resistance rockets scored direct hits on the American headquarters, while the Resistance fighters themselves took advantage of the cover of an earthen wall that the Americans themselves had built to protect themselves.  After the attack, US forces opened fire inside with great intensity.

The correspondent in the area reported that the situation in the town had been tense since the afternoon.  US helicopters never left the skies over the area.  For a period, US warplanes also buzzed the area, which the Americans surrounded by amphibious armored vehicles.  The Americans imposed a curfew beginning at 9pm and lasting until further notice

US soldier killed while on patrol in downtown al-Fallujah.

In a dispatch posted at 12:10pm Mecca time midday Wednesday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman had shot and killed a US soldier in the middle of al-Fallujah, some 60km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that a US foot patrol was moving through the center of the city when an Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter’s bullet struck one of the American soldiers.  Witnesses said that the sharpshooter’s first bullet did not kill the soldier.  He was seen falling to earth and then trying to crawl to one of the barricades set up outside the al-Fallujah courthouse. But then the Resistance sharpshooter fired off two more shots, killing him.

The Resistance marksman was apparently perched atop one of the municipal government buildings when he fired the shots.

A source in the Iraqi puppet army, in a statement to the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent, confirmed that a US soldier had been shot by a sniper in the middle of al-Fallujah on Wednesday. He said that the American forces then arrested five local men on suspicion of their having been involved in the attack.

Al-Habbaniyah.

Four US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing in al-Habbaniyah.

In a dispatch posted at 11:30am Mecca time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded a short while earlier across from a water pumping station in al-Habbaniyah, 69km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the blast totally destroyed one US military vehicle, reducing it to wreckages.  A source in the lcal puppet police, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that the bomb explosion had killed four American soldiers.  At the time of reporting, US troops had cordoned off the entire area.

Abu Ghurayb.

US rounds up bearded men in Abu Ghurayb town, accusing them of "terrorism."

In a dispatch posted at 7:50pm Mecca time Wednesday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US military forces backed up by Iraqi puppet troops had launched a campaign of mass areas in various parts of the town of Abu Ghurayb, some 30km west of Baghdad at about 4pm local time Wednesday afternoon.

The Abu Ghurayb correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US forces arrested worshippers in mosques, rounding them up after they finished the afternoon prayers.

More than 50 persons were arrested, the correspondent reported.  Witnesses said that worshippers were forced to climb over the back wall of the mosque courtyard to escape capture by the Americans who had parked right at the front door of the place of worship.

A source in the Abu Ghurayb branch of the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq told the correspondent that Americans were rounding up any man with a beard in the city, accusing them of "terrorism."

The correspondent reported that the US troops lead their captives away to the US base near the notorious Abu Ghurayb prison camp, after leaving a large contingent of soldiers who, at the time the correspondent submitted his resport,  were still encircling the area where the mass arrests were carried out.

Baghdad.

Religious council permits Sunnis to pray at home, shave their beards, in order to avoid American mass arrest campaigns.

In a dispatch posted at 9:40pm Mecca time Wednesday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that following campaigns of mass arrests targeting Sunni Iraqis in various parts of the country – including, by admission of the occupation forces themselves – Baghdad, Ba'qubah, Samarra’, Kirkuk, Mosul. Ar-Ramadi, and al-Fallujah – in which some 7,000 captives were rounded up, many simply for having beards, the Council of Religious Jurisconsultancy [Majlis al-Fatwa] in Baghdad issued a religious ruling permitting Sunni Muslims to say their prayers in their homes even if they are near a mosque, and permitting them to shave or trim their beards so as not to arouse the suspicion of the US occupation authorities.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported Shaykh Ahmad al-Khalil, one of the religious scholars on the Council, as saying that the Council had given permission under the Islamic Shari'ah law to Sunni Muslims who frequent mosques – which are frequently raided and in which mass arrests and assassinations are common.  The Shaykh said that the council actually ordered young men to shave their beards since the US troops and their stooges arrest any Sunni youth they see wearing a beard – something that causes harm to the Muslim community.

Shaykh al-Khalil said that the fatwa would be communicated to the community through mosques and written announcements sent to Fatwa councils in the various Iraqi provinces.

Shaykh al-Khalil said that a delegation of a number of religious leaders from al-Anbar, Mosul, Samarra’, Ba'qubah, and Tikrit explained to the council that the occupation sets up road blocks at which they simply arrest bearded men and mosque worshippers in those cities, without even asking for their official identity documents or what their job is.  Shaykh al-Khalil said that the fatwa was based on the rules of the Shari'ah as derived from the Islamic holy book the Qur’an and the noble practice (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad.

Resistance bombards "Green Zone" with Grad rockets Wednesday evening.

In a dispatch posted at 6:45pm Mecca time Wednesday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, the Iraqi Resistance had fired four Grad rockets into the area around the Republican Palace in downtown Baghdad – the district that the Americans have turned into their tight-security headquarters and dubbed the "Green Zone."

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported from the area around the "Green Zone’ that three plumes of thick smoke were rising from within the compound, near the southern part that overlooks the Tigris River.  Four helicopters had flown in and were hovering over the area firing flares to illumine the strike zone.  With journalists and local citizens prohibited from approaching the area, the correspondent could not ascertain the specific nature or extent of casualties.

Resistance forces ambush supply convoy in western Baghdad’s al-Ghazaliyah.

In a dispatch posted at 3:20pm Mecca time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters attacked a supply column jointly manned by US and Iraqi puppet troops on the highway near the al-Ghazaliyah area of western Baghadad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons attacked the convoy, setting fire to one fuel tanker and a truck loaded with provisions for Iraqi puppet troops.  Two drivers working for the occupation forces were wounded in the ambush.

Five more bodies of Iraqi Sunnis found tortured and murdered Wednesday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 12:30pm Mecca time midday Wednesday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi puppet police recovered five unknown bodies believed to be Iraqi Sunnis from the pipes of the heavy water treatment facility in Baghdad’s ar-Rustamiyah district on Wednesday morning.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in al-Yarmuk Hospital in the middle of Baghdad as saying that a puppet police patrol found the five bodies Wednesday morning.  The corpses were all bound and bore signs of torture.  They had been shot in the head.  The bodies were preserved in the morgue freezer of the hospital as usual, awaiting the arrival of relatives who might identify them.  The source said that so far one of the bodies had been identified as belonging to a Sunni youth.  His family had come, identified, and retrieved his body, the source said.

Numerous cases in which pro-American Shi'i sectarian Badr Brigades or members of the puppet regime’s security agencies (which are largely staffed by Badr Brigade members) have arrested, tortured, murdered, and then dumped the bodies of Sunni Iraqis have been reported throughout Iraq.  The practice has become much more common particularly since the US-backed Shi'i sectarian "Prime Minister" Ibrahim al-Ja'fari took over in 2005.

US troops open fire on Canadian ambassador’s car inside "Green Zone."

Mafkarat al-Islam reported Wednesday afternoon that an American State Department official had admitted that US troops in occupied Baghdad had opened fire on the car of the Canadian ambassador on Tuesday.  No one was injured in the incident.

Mafkarat al-Islam quoted a Reuters report that quoted Air Force Technical Sergeant Stacy Simon as confirming that the Canadian ambassador’s car had been damaged by US military gunfire.  "The incident occurred in the international zone [the area around the Republican Palace, called the "Green Zone" by the Americans] on Tuesday," Reuters quoted her as saying.  "The ambassador’s vehicle was attempting to pass a US convoy."  When the car failed to stop, the Americans opened fire at the front of the vehicle.

Salah ad-Din Province.

At-Tarimiyah.

Resistance bomb blasts puppet "National Guard" column in at-Tarimiyah.

In a dispatch posted at 4pm Mecca time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a column of Iraqi puppet "National Guard" troops on the main road in the town of at-Tarimiyah, north of Baghdad.

The at-Tarimiyah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the bomb disabled one puppet "National Guard" Nissan vehicle, killing three puppet guards and wounding two more of them.

Al-Mushahadah.

Two US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing near al-Mushahadah.

In a dispatch posted at 3:50pm Mecca time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military column on the road between al-Mushahadah and the northern Baghdad suburb of at-Taji.

The al-Mushahadah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the road running south blew up by a passing US column, disabling a Humvee and killing two US troops and wounding two more of them.

Diyala Province.

Al-Mundhiriyah.

US soldier reported killed in Resistance bombing in al-Mundhiriyah, near Iranian border.

In a dispatch posted at 12:01pm Mecca time midday Wednesday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded by a US military patrol in the Sa'd area in the middle of the city of al-Mundhiriyah on the Iraq-Iran border.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Mansur fo the local puppet police as saying that the bomb went off at 9am local time Wednesday morning, destroying a Humvee and killing one US soldier and seriously wounding three more of them.

Afterwards, US troops surrounded the area for an hour and a half during which time they hauled away the wreckage of the Humvee and called in a helicopter that landed and evacuated the casualties from the area.

Ba'qubah.

Bomb blast reportedly targets civilian car in Ba'qubah Wednesday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 12:20pm Mecca time midday Wednesday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a bomb exploded by the side of the road at the intersection to the bridges in the neighborhood of Ba'qubah, 65km NE of Baghdad, at about 9am local time Wednesday morning.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the local puppet police, who asked not to be identified, as saying that the bomb went off as a civilian car was driving past.  The source said that the explosion killed one civilian and wounded three more.  The correspondent was unable to determine the identity of the dead and wounded persons or the possible reason for the attack.

At-Ta’mim Province.

Kirkuk.

Resistance bombards US airbase set up in Kirkuk airport with Grad rockets Wednesday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 11:50am Mecca time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired four Grad rockets into the US base set up in Kirkuk International Airport on Wednesday morning.

The Kirkuk correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that four Grad rockets blasted into the base early Wednesday morning, sending four plumes of dense smoke billowing into the sky.  The sounds of powerful explosions followed the barrage a few seconds later.  Afterwards, US helicopters were observed flying over the base.