Baghdad - Killings, kidnaps and arrests marked a new bloody
day in conflict-torn Iraq on Wednesday, with at least three Iraqis
killed and 10 others wounded in northern Baghdad and 14 militants
killed by their own explosives near Tikrit.
The three were killed when a booby-trapped car went off in the
Shiite al-Suleikh region near a police patrol and a public market,
independent news agency Voices of Iraq reported, adding that
policemen were among the victims.
The attack targeted a police patrol and two police vehicles and
also destroyed four civilian cars, a witness told Voices of Iraq.
Meanwhile, a US marine was reportedly killed while conducting a
combat operation in Anbar province, west of the Iraqi capital, US-led
coalition forces said in a statement Wednesday.
In other developments, Iraqi security forces killed 14 gunmen,
captured 114 others and arrested two suspected militants in several
areas of Baghdad during the past 24 hours under the Baghdad Fardh
al-Qanoun (Law Enforcement) - security plan, sources said.
The forces managed also to free three captives, defuse two bombs
and confiscate large amount of weapons and ammunition in different
areas of Baghdad, mainly in Kadhimiyah City in northern Baghdad, the
source added.
The statement also noted that eight Iraqi soldiers were killed and
29 others were injured, including an officer, in a combat mission.
The Fardh al-Qanoun security plan was launched by Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki and backed by the US forces in a bid to
control the violence in Iraq.
In related news, fourteen militants were killed in northern Iraq
on Wednesday when they accidentally blew themselves up in the Shurqat
district, north of Tikrit.
Tikrit is the capital of Salahuddin province and is 140 kilometres
north-west of the capital Baghdad.
Meanwhile, journalist Hamed Sarhan, 57, was shot dead Tuesday
afternoon on his way home in southern Baghdad, Iraq's press
syndicate president Shehab al-Tamimi said Wednesday.
For more than 30 years, Sarhan worked for many newspapers, local
magazines and also for the Iraqi news agency. He is survived by his
wife and five children.
According to Iraqi press syndicate statistics, about 230 Iraqi
journalists have been killed since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In Baquba, gunmen stopped a mini-bus carrying Iraqi students,
kidnapping eight males, the Association of Muslim Scholars said
Wednesday, adding that the kidnappers left the female students.
Baquba, capital of Diyala province, is 60 kilometres north of
Baghdad. It has been witnessing fierce clashes between joint US-Iraqi
forces and militants, and security crackdowns.
Also Wednesday, US-led coalition forces announced that one Iraqi
civilian died of wounds and two were injured Monday resulting from
crossfire between the forces and insurgents in Mosul city, 400
kilometres north of Baghdad. Eight houses were also damaged in the
attack.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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