October 17th 2006 in Iraq

[brettdale]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO731144.htm



Oct 17 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Tuesday as of 1430 GMT:

Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.

*BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber targeting police commandos killed two police and wounded nine, including four civilians, in Baghdad's southern Saidiya district, an Interior Ministry source said.

*BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb aimed at a police patrol wounded five civilians in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

*MOSUL - Gunmen killed a man and wounded a policeman when they attacked the house of the brother of Mosul's governor, police said.

*KIRKUK - A car bomb exploded prematurely, killing its driver and another man sitting in the same vehicle in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

*SAMARRA - Gunmen wounded the two nephews of Abdul Ghafour al-Samarrai, an official at the Sunni Endowment group, on Monday in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

*BASRA - Gunmen killed four college students in the southern city of Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. The motive was not known.

*BASRA - Gunmen killed a woman doctor in Basra, police said.

*SHIRQAT - A suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing a soldier and wounding two others in the town of Shirqat, 300 km (180 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BALAD - U.S. forces said that at least 66 people were killed during the last four days in a surge of sectarian violence in the town of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad. The number includes 19 Shi'ite workers who were kidnapped and killed in Dhuluiya, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - A mortar round landed near al-Wathiq square in central Baghdad, killing two people and wounding three policemen, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - 65 bodies were found in different districts of Baghdad since Sunday night, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army arrested 10 "terrorists" and 31 suspected insurgents in different parts of Iraq during the last 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said.

HADITHA - Police found the bodies of four people, with gunshot wounds and signs of torture in Haditha, 250 km (150 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen shot dead Muftah al-Herki, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), in a drive-by attack in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A mortar round landed on a residential district and killed a man and wounded 10 others on Monday night in Baghdad's southern Dora district, police said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

*BAGHDAD - The judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial agreed on Tuesday to a request by defence counsel to allow their lawyers back in court during a session in which the ousted leader urged Iraqis again to avoid sectarian war.