European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 15, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages stars and stripes june Iraq fairly Calm after rival mosque attacks by Zeke Minaya stars and stripes Baghdad at least five sunni mosques in Iraq were attacked thursday in apparent sectarian reprisals a Day after the bombing of a revered shiite shrine in but with and iraqi troops and iraqi citizens bracing for the possibility of ramped up fighting Between sunnis and most areas were reporting relative Calm in the first hours after the Samarra at the military said wednesday that iraqi Security forces had arrested the iraqi commander and 12 policemen from the unit that had been responsible for Security at the shrine when it was we must condemn the bad actions of and the sons of All tribes must come together and forgive each iraqi Duraid am Ahmed Moham mad Deputy National police com Mander in was quoted As saying in a military so it seems that the roughly 2 million residents of Sadr a huge shiite slum in Baghdad and the Power base of the Mahdi army have heeded Calls for according to military a protest involving roughly people gathered in the shiite District in Baghdad at about on thursday and Dis Persed a Little Over an hour according to David the executive officer of the 2nd brigade combat 82nd airborne Muntada a Sadr has committed to three Days of mourning and that will help ease the violence we would have Oclander said Oclander stressed that the curfew that has been indefinitely imposed was put in place by the iraqi we Are Here to help enforce to lend a he deaths in Iraq the associated press As of at least Mem Bers of the military have died since the beginning of the Iraq War in March according to an associated press the figure includes seven military i at least died As a result of hostile according to the Mili Tarys the a count is five higher than the defense departments last updated wednesday at 10 the latest deaths reported by the Mili tary a Marine was killed tuesday Dur ing combat in Anbar a Soldier was killed monday by an explosive in Eastern the latest identifications reported by the military army Cameron died monday in Balad of wounds suffered during combat in Bagh dad assigned to the 2nd 16th infantry 4th infantry Bri Gade combat 1st infantry Divi fort army William killed tuesday in Bagh dad by an explosive assigned to the 1st 4th cavalry 4th in Fantry brigade combat 1st infantry fort troops in the area Are hoping to avoid a repeat of the violence that followed the bombing of the Sakariya shrine last year when More than two dozen sunni mosques in Baghdad were attacked in retaliation on the same we Are on the Lookout for Large move ments of military age Oclander he added that military officials will also actively combat rumours sweeping through Sadr City and other sectors of the shiite Community that blame the United states As complicit in the destruction of the its just Rumor and  he i do know we Are going to get the record on some leading shiite clerics and the shiite president of Iran blamed the military for not guarding the shrine More the entire iraqi iraqis in the shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad on thursday protest the second bombing of a shiite holy shrine in Samarra on the attack stoked fears of a surge in violence Between Muslim Karim police unit that was responsible for Security at the site was detained for iraqi officials said Oclander said that troops As Well As iraqi Security forces Are keeping close tabs on the nearby Abu Hanifa mosque in the predominately sunni District of Adham Yah in we Haven seen any we Are engaging with the iraqi Security forces and we Are going to engage with the local Oclander Oclander said should violence erupt the military in Sadr City will be better prepared to since last his unit has carved out a pres ence in the southwestern Corner of Sadr once a nogo zone for coalition from that we can conduct operations anywhere in Sadr he he that he Hopes Calm can be if we can do it without firing a we he in Babil South of army officers with the 4th brigade combat 25th infantry division Are working with local sunni and shiite Lead asking them to avoid were telling them to hold not to said Rick the Bri Gades information operations who also is in charge of tribal but units remain on it is volatile in our especially with the sunni and shia said Eric the brigades Public information he said the local Media had re ported five mosques hit in the units but we Haven been Able to confirm it la Hillah on shiite residents led a demonstration in the provincial Capi but no violence was Verzola american units in bad Cuba said most of volatile Dyala province had so far we keep driving on with the said Raul 3rd 1st cavalry division Public affairs we Haven seen any reactions from the people that Tell us if something was going to Hap Dyala has been the scene of heavy fight ing Between forces and insurgents Ever since president Bush announced he was Sanduig More forces to Iraq to bolster Security in the iraqi the province is composed of about 50 percent sunni 33 percent shia 10 percent ethnic kurd and 7 per cent other ethnic and religious Marquez said senior brigade officers have been attentive to a possible surge in violence and have been talking with local iraqi urging them to keep their people in stars and stripes reporters Teri Weaver and Drew Brown contributed to this email Zeke Minaya at  fewer More casualties seen by Jeff Schogol stars and stripes attacks against and coalition troops fell Between february and but casualties Are according to a new report measuring Progress in the defense department released the quarterly report mandated by Congress late the report shows an average of 744 at tacks per week against troops and other coalition forces from 10 to May that is Down slightly from the average of 756 attacks per week from 1 to average casualties for troops and coalition partners Rose from 22 to 25 per Day during the same the report it does not break Down casualties by killed and wounded in the report also notes that attacks by explosively formed Penetra tors hit an Al time High in but it gives no numbers on the Marine Peter chairman of the joint chiefs of was reported in Usa today As saying there were 69 such attacks in on the Security the report showed a Sharp decrease nationwide in sectarian murders per month from More than in december to about 600in murders rising slightly above 600 in the report was released on the same Day terrorists bombed the Sakariya shrine in Samarra for the second time since february the first attack sparked the cur rent wave of sectarian speaking to reporters de sense Secretary Robert Gates said the at tack appears to be another attempt by Al Aida to provoke sectarian violence and prevent political reconciliation in my Hope is that their intentions Are so Clear that people will refrain from violence because they understand that Al Aida is that would just be carrying out what Al Aida Gates the report covers the period including the beginning of the buildup of troop strength in Iraq by known As the the report notes that efforts to restore Security in Baghdad have caused insurgents to move into Dyala and Ninevah provinces and other areas outside the Mahdi the shiite militia nominally under the control of ant american cleric Muntada remained the de Facto government in Sadr the report iraqi prime minister Nouri Almalik has pledged that the iraqi government will go after All terrorists and and govern ment officials will not interfere with Security the report to operations in Baghdad indicate that iraqi government delivery on these commitments have been the re port for there have been reports of political involvements by some leaders in tactical and operational decision that bypass the Standard Chain of com in sectarian based Deci Sions have been made within the iraqi government and its military and police forc one of the reports conclusions is that it is too Early to determine whether the surge is in the Over All commander in Iraq is expected to give lawmakers a Progress report on the asked about the most recent Progress re Middle East scholar Wayne White said he agreed that the jury is still put on the but he was not optimistic that the troop increase would former head of the state depart ments Iraq intelligence said he recommended a surge to the Iraq study group last but said even with that Many the move Only had a shot of with far fewer troops in Iraq than he rec i do not think in september we will have the Success that will encourage people that we have turned the Corner in All of he not Only Are there not enough troops in place to secure but the military has had to focus troops efforts from Baghdad to outlying areas when insurgents simply flanked the Security crackdown in White its not a pretty he email Jeff Schogol at