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Gunman killed, 5 people wounded in Iraq’s violence

17 April 2012 17:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A gunman was killed and five people were injured in separate attacks in Iraq, including one against Sunni MP on Tuesday, while Iraqi security forces arrested 14 suspects during the day, the police said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

In Salahudin province, Falah al-Naqib, a member of the Iraqi parliament survived a roadside bomb attack near his convoy in the city of Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad, injuring one of his bodyguards, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Al-Naqib is a member of the Sunni-backed parliamentary bloc of Iraqia, headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

In a separate incident, Iraqi soldiers killed a gunman and arrested another as they were caught trying to emplace a roadside bomb on a highway in the city of Tuz-Khurmato, some 220 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

Meanwhile, gunmen planted bombs in the house of a member of the government-backed Awakening Council group and blew them up in the city of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, injuring one of his children, the source added.

The Awakening Council group, also known as Sons of Iraq movement or Sahwa in Arabic, consists of mostly anti-U.S. Sunni insurgent militant groups, who turned their rifles to fight al- Qaida network after Sahwa’s leaders became dismayed by al-Qaida’s brutality and religious zealotry in the country.

Also in the province, gunmen with assault rifles attacked in the morning a police station in the city of Saliman Pek, some 160 km north of Baghdad, igniting fierce fighting with guards of the police station, he said.

The clash resulted in the capture of four of the attackers, including their leader, after reinforcement troops rushed to the scene, he added.

Salahudin province is a Sunni-dominated province. Its capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of the former President Saddam Hussein.

In Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, a Sahaw leader and a civilian were wounded when a sticky bomb attached to their car detonated in west of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua.

In addition, gunmen in their car wounded an off duty soldier near a parking lot in central Baquba, the source said.

Separately, Iraqi security forces carried out search operations across the province during the past 24 hours and arrested nine suspects, including three wanted individuals, the source added.

Violence is still common in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease since its peak in 2006 and 2007 when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.