An Iraqi army soldier speaks with a handcuffed detainee following his arrest in the northern Iraqi city of Baquba, March 29, 2005. Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops detained 25 people and seized a large weapon cache as they launched a joint operation in Baquba on Tuesday, military sources said. REUTERS/Faris al-Mahdawi
Insurgent attacks on police Latest violence kills 16 in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Mar 28 (AFP): At least 16 Iraqis, including three members of a Shi'ite political party, were killed in the country's latest incidents of violence as politicians fought over the oil ministry and the role of Islam in the next government. A suicide car bomber blew himself up late Sunday in the path of a US military convoy in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, said police, but it was not immediately known if there were any US casualties.
Three members of the Badr Organistion, a Shi'ite political grouping, were killed on the road near Baqouba, 60 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of the capital, where insurgent attacks have been frequent. Gunmen in another car pulled alongside their vehicle and shot them, police and defense ministry sources said. Iraq military forces and police were also targets of the seemingly relentless insurgent attacks Sunday. Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and three more were wounded in separate attacks in and around Baquba. In the first instance, a lieutenant colonel from the former Iraqi army was shot dead by unknown gunmen in his friend's shop, according to police. Nearby, one soldier was killed and another was injured in an attack in Dhuluiyah, 70 kilometres (55 miles) north of Baghdad, said police captain Omar Jumaha.
Another soldier was killed and two more were wounded in violence in Balad, about 70 kilometres (55 miles) north of Baghdad, said Assad Sudad, a police captain there. Meanwhile, Iraqi politicians fought over the oil ministry and the role of Islam in the next government. Iraq's parliament, due to meet Tuesday, seemed far from a deal on a coalition government, as the country's ethnic and religious factions bickered nearly two months after Iraq's historic January 30 election.
Meanwhile, insurgents targeted Iraqi security forces Monday in the capital, gunning down a neighbourhood police chief and hitting a patrol with a roadside bomb in attacks that left three people dead and at least five injured. Gunmen opened fire on a car carrying police Col. Abdul Karim Fahad Abbass as he headed to work in the sprawling southeastern Doura quarter, killing the neighbourhood station chief and his driver, Capt. Falah al-Muhimadawi said.
Two handcuffed detainees wait after their arrest in the northern Iraqi city of Baquba, March 29, 2005. Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops detained 25 people and seized a large weapon cache as they launched a joint operation in Baquba on Tuesday, military sources said. REUTERS/Faris al-Mahdawi
Iraqi soldiers guard a group of handcuffed detainees following their arrest in the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, March 29, 2005. Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops detained 25 people and seized a large weapon cache as they launched a joint operation in Baquba on Tuesday, military sources said. REUTERS/Faris al-Mahdawi
