Iraq Photos: Dec. 18 -- Dec. 24

A U.S. Army soldier from Company B of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment stands guard by the exterior gate while other soldiers search a home in New Baghdad, an eastern neighborhood in the Iraqi capital where soldiers searched for weapons and suspected insurgents on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006.

Iraqi Christians attend Mass at the Catholic church in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006. Approximately 3 percent of Iraq's estimated population of 26 million are Christians, and most of them will enjoy Christmas celebrations at their homes because of the deteriorating security situation.

U.S. Army soldiers from Company B of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, under cover of a smoke grenade, hunt for a sniper that lightly wounded one of their compatriots in New Baghdad, an eastern neighborhood in the Iraqi capital on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006.

Suspects sit blindfolded in a pick up truck after being detained in a joint Iraqi and U.S. army raid in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006. Fifteen suspected terrorists were arrested during the raid.

An Iraqi girl carries an inflatable Santa doll in a shop in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006. Approximately 3 percent of Iraq's estimated population of 26 million are Christians.

Iraqi boys are seen through shattered glass in Baghdad's Sadr City, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 22, 2006, after a U.S. and Iraqi army raid on the neighborhood. The joint forces raid resulted in two suspects being detained and four people wounded, including two children, police said.

Iraqis clear debris after a car bomb blast in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 22, 2006. A parked car bomb detonated in Samarra, killing two people and wounding four, police said.

An Iraqi boy looks through a broken window of a house in Baghdad's Sadr City, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 22, 2006, after a U.S. and Iraqi army raid on the neighborhood. The joint forces raid resulted in two suspects being detained and four people wounded, including two children, police said.

A Shiite Iraqi man prays in the Kufa mosque, just north of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 22, 2006.

A U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter flies over the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. A bomb killed an American soldier and two other U.S. Army servicemen died from combat injuries Thursday in Iraq.

Iraqi women grieve in front of Baghdad's Kindi hospital, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, after a suicide bomber attack at a police academy in eastern Baghdad. A suicide bomber blew up among a group of police volunteers, killing at least 14 people and wounding 21 others, police said.

An Iraqi walks past at a minivan destroyed in a suicide car bomb attack in Baghdad's neighborhood of Kasra, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006. At least one civilian was killed and four wounded when a suicide car bomb detonated in Kasra, police said.

Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein listens to prosecution evidence during the "Anfal" genocide trial in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday Dec 19, 2006. The chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's trial presented memos from the ousted president's office approving chemical attacks against Kurdish villages, the most serious evidence against him in his genocide trial.

Iraqi army soldiers take cover while being attacked on the outskirts of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006. Clashes between the Iraqi army and insurgents occurred 5 kilometers north of Baqouba, in which five insurgents were killed, police said.

This image made from undated video released Dec. 19, 2006, by the Iraqi government, shows three men standing in a row shortly before they were hanged. Iraqi authorities executed 13 men by hanging after they were convicted of murder and kidnapping, lining them up in hoods and green jumpsuits with their hands restrained behind their backs.

An Iraqi army soldier takes cover while under attack on the outskirts of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 19, 2006. Five insurgents were killed during clashes with the Iraqi and U.S. army 3 miles north of Baqouba, police said.

A shop owner cleans the broken glass in his shop window after a bomb went off in Baghdad's Zafaraniyah neighborhood in Iraq on Dec. 19, 2006. A bomb planted outside a Falafel sandwich shop exploded, wounding four civilians, police said.

Iraqi workers repair the damage made to an electrical post after a bomb went off in Baghdad's Zafaraniyah neighborhood in Iraq on Dec. 19, 2006. A bomb planted outside a Falafel sandwich shop exploded, wounding four civilians, police said.

An Iraqi child touches the coffin with the body of Munqith Ahmed, 29, while a man grieves besides it in Baghdad's Orfalli district, Iraq, on Dec. 18, 2006. Ahmed was killed in southeast Baghdad early Monday morning, during a U.S. Army raid on the area, police said.

An Iraqi examines human remains on a mass grave site in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 18, 2006. A grave holding more than 30 bodies, apparently from Saddam Hussein's regime, was found Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, police said.

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