BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Blasts rocked five Christian churches in four Baghdad neighborhoods early Saturday — as a string of violent incidents marred the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Homemade bombs detonated at the churches in a series of explosions from 4:20 a.m. to 6 a.m. local time, causing damage but no casualties.
A CNN crew was at the scene of one of the bombings — St. George’s Church — where they saw extensive damage. Soldiers believe 60 pounds of explosives was used in that attack.
St. Jacob’s Church, St. Joseph Church, St. Thomas Church, and the Church of Rome were also struck.
Although most Iraqis in the country of 26 million are Muslims, Christians number about 700,000.
They are linked by some Muslim militants to the coalition because some work in Iraqi government ministries or for groups set up by coalition authorities.
Merchants who sell liquor are usually Christians, seen as a transgression by hard-line Muslims.
No one has claimed responsibility for the church attacks.
Sectarian violence has occurred over Iraq in the past few months.
In August, insurgents launched deadly attacks on four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul.
Those attacks were blamed on the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terror network. Two weeks ago, men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles killed seven Christians leaving their jobs at a social club in Baghdad.
The al-Zarqawi network, suspected in the August church attacks, remains the focus of almost-daily strikes by U.S. forces working to oust militants entrenched in Falluja.
While the interim Iraqi government continues to take steps to maintain the peace deal worked out last weekend with militants in Baghdad’s Sadr City, efforts to reach a similar deal with insurgents in Falluja have stumbled.
Peace talks in Falluja
A representative involved in talks to bring peace to Falluja said Saturday that the group won’t continue discussions with the interim government until the arrested head of the delegation is freed and U.S. warplanes stop bombing the city.
Sheikh Khalid al-Jumaily, speaking on behalf of the Falluja group, made the remarks.
Later Saturday, U.S. warplanes dropped bombs on northern Falluja, including the Jolan neighborhood, where the military said “terrorists” were operating a checkpoint.
Residents reported hearing what sounded like an AC-130 gunship over the city.
The bombing started at about 10:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. ET), hitting multiple targets. There was also small arms fire reported in eastern Falluja.
In a written statement, the coalition said the illegal Jolan checkpoint was being used to “disrupt traffic, intimidate and harass local citizens, and interrogate and detain local civilians.”
The checkpoint was considered “key to the Zarqawi network’s ability to control movement into and out of the city,” the statement said, citing informants who “linked this and other checkpoints to kidnappings and executions conducted in the Falluja area.”
On Friday, Sheikh Khalid Humood al-Jumaily, who is heading the talks on behalf of Fallujans, and three police officers were detained by U.S. forces.
On Thursday, U.S.-led forces escalated their efforts to take on the insurgents in the restive Sunni Triangle area west of Baghdad, initiating air and ground operations.
U.S. military officials insisted the operation was not an offensive to retake Falluja, but rather to lay the groundwork for an eventual offensive.
Both interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and interim national security adviser Kasim Dawood said this week that if Fallujans don’t produce al-Zarqawi and other militants, a wide military operation will be initiated.
Deadly incidents
Two U.S. helicopters with Task Force Baghdad crashed Saturday evening in southwest Baghdad, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring two, a U.S. military spokesman said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. It occurred at 8:25 p.m. (1:25 p.m. ET).
In northern Iraq, an Iraqi government official was assassinated Saturday in Kirkuk, and a U.S. soldier died of wounds suffered Friday in Mosul.
A blast overnight killed three civilians outside Baquba, in north-central Iraq, and suspected insurgents launched a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a police-military compound in the city.
In Baghdad, a hospital worker died in a mortar attack and a police officer was killed. Both incidents occurred Saturday.
In Qaim, western Iraq, near the Syrian border, two U.S. soldiers, a Marine and an Iraqi were killed Friday night in a suicide car bomb attack, the U.S. military said.
The deaths of the troops bring the toll of U.S. military dead in Iraq since the war began to 1,093.
Other developments
The Army is investigating reports that reservists in a supply unit refused to go on a convoy mission, the military said Friday. The reservists are from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, based in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which delivers food and water in combat zones. (Full story)
The al-Zarqawi group, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly attacks in Iraq, was designated by the U.S. government Friday as a terrorist organization. The State Department has considered al-Zarqawi himself a threat for some time. (Full story)
A car bomb detonated in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Dura on Friday, killing 10 Iraqi civilians, officials said. The car, believed to have carried 300 pounds of explosives, targeted an Iraqi police patrol. The blast left an 18-by-12-foot crater nearly 5 feet deep. Iraqi officials said four police officers and nine civilians were wounded.
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