Iraq Press Roundup

Al Mada newspaper reported Tuesday that one suspected terrorist was killed and 54 arrested in various operations around Baghdad over the past 48 hours.

A Ministry of Defense statement said 20 unexploded bombs were discovered in Baghdad and Diyala, the newspaper reported.

It also reported that a blast in Etafaiya, west of Baghdad, Monday killed two people and wounded five. In Sadr city, east of Baghdad, a U.S. airstrike hit the Shiite-majority area.

The Sadr office in Sadr city said the airstrike hit between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Monday. The Mahdi army was ordered not to respond, but its members were told to hide in order to prevent arrests, the newspaper reported.

Officials in Sadr City hospital told the paper one person was killed and five injured in the attack.

In Kirkuk, the paper said, police announced a roadside bomb attack on an Iraqi army patrol in downtown Kirkuk killed one civilian and wounded four. Meanwhile, Kirkuk police backed by multinational forces raided Al Nasr district, arresting many suspects.

In Diyala, a source from Diyala police said 71 unconvicted prisoners were released. In the north of Baqouba city, two people were killed and two others wounded when "terrorists opened fire on civilians."

North of Baghdad, Iraqi police said a car bomb explosion targeted the police station, resulting in the killing of four people -- two policemen among them -- and the wounding of four.

In north Baghdad, in Swiera district, police said they recovered two bodies tortured and shot to death from the Tigris River.

In Diwanyia, south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded at 1 a.m. Monday, damaging a U.S. Humvee and wounding two U.S. soldiers, a police source told the newspaper.

In Balad district, Saladeen province, multinational forces said they killed 12 insurgents affiliated with al-Qaida, the paper reported.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s Kurdish Al Itihad newspaper reported that 94 journalists were killed and kidnapped in the last year in Iraq.

The paper discussed the report written by Journalism Freedoms Observer saying insurgent groups were considered the main danger to journalists in Iraq.

"This year, 61 journalists were killed and 23 were kidnapped … and six of them are still missing. Meanwhile, tens of them were able to escape assassination operations and kidnapping," the paper said.

The report said 24 journalists were assaulted and insurgents destroyed two media centers. It criticized security forces for not investigating “such daily crimes."

The report documented 60 violations against journalists in Iraq.

"In addition to that, 42 journalists were arrested while covering events," the paper said.

Azzaman newspaper reported Monday seven U.S. soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded in a “car accident” in Baghdad.

It quoted the U.S. Army as saying two suspects with the U.S. convoy were also killed.

In Nineveh, the paper said, a police source said that five civilians died and 75 others were wounded in a truck bomb explosion Monday.

"We started to evacuate the people in the area, and we are looking for people still thought to be under the wreckage," Brig. Abdul Kareem Al Jibouri, Nineveh police commander, said.