Drive-by shooters on Sunday killed a senior Shiite official at the Iraqi industry and mines ministry in western Baghdad, the ministry said. Eight gunmen in two cars blocked the way of Adil Abdul-Muhssin al-Lami, who served as a general director of the ministry's engineering directorate, as he was traveling in the Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Dakhiliya.
His 27-year-old daughter, who was an engineer at the ministry, a colleague and driver also died in the attack that took place as al-Lami was heading to work, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military reported the deaths of seven more troops Saturday. Also, police reported the discovery of 40 bodies dumped in Baghdad alone. Two of the victims were women and most of the bodies showed signs of torture, police said.
Of the seven service members reported dead on Saturday, two died in Diyala province northeast of the capital on Friday, three in an unspecified location north of Baghad on Saturday and two in east Baghdad on Thursday. The latest reported deaths raised to at least 3,079 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the outset of the Iraq war in March 2003, the AP reported.
As the death toll is rising, tens of thousands of Americans marched Saturday in an anti-war demonstration, calling to get out of Iraq. Celebrities, a half-dozen lawmakers and protesters from distant states rallied in the capital.
About 50 demonstrators blocked a street near the Capitol for about 30 minutes, but they were dispersed without arrests.
United for Peace and Justice, a coalition group sponsoring the protest, had hoped 100,000 would come. They claimed even more afterward, but police, who no longer give official estimates, said privately the crowd was smaller than 100,000.
In California, smaller rallies were held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
