Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Voices Of Iraq

Baghdad, Jun 11, (VOI) - Around eleven persons were killed and 35 others wounded, while security forces arrested 109 suspected gunmen in the violent acts that took place from Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon.

In Baghdad, a police source said the casualty toll from the roadside bombing that hit a bus in Kadhmiya, north Baghdad, rose to 15.

The source added a second roadside bomb detonated near a petrol station in al-Bunook district, east Baghdad,leaving two civilians wounded.

Earlier, a roadside bomb placed on the road to the Mission complex in Karrada district, central Baghdad, went off killing a civilian and wounding seven others according to security forces.

Meanwhile, the U.S. army said Coalition forces arrested an explosive expert trained in Iran and suspected special groups member in Nuamaniya, 180 km south of Baghdad. Special groups is a term used by the U.S. army to describe groups that broke away from the Mahdi Army militia currently abiding by a ceasefire announced by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr last August.A spokesman for Baghdad’s security plan noted the Iraqi army 25th brigade captured four wanted persons, defused two roadside bombs, and seized eight missile launch pads in Mahmoudiya district.

Brig. Gen. Qassem Atta added the “army 24th brigade arrested two gunmen in Abu Ghraib district, a west Baghdad suburb.”
In Diala, a security source said “joint U.S.-Iraqi forces conducted a military operation in Buhriz area targeting al-Qaeda network strongholds. The operation left two al-Qaeda network fighters killed and resulted in the arrest of 16 others.”

In Ninewa, a police source said “two unknown gunmen killed a civilian who was working as an operator for a private electricity generator in al-Farouq district, central Mosul.”

Elsewhere in Mosul, Brig, Khalid Abdel Sattar, spokesman for Ninewa security operations, said joint army and police forces “detained two gunmen believed to be al-Qaeda commanders in Mosul Jadida, west Mosul and Dawasa district, central Mosul.”

In Basra, a police source said “Interior Ministry forces working in Basra conducted raid-and-search operations, capturing 23 suspects wanted on criminal and terrorist charges.”

In Anbar, a leader in Falluja scholars and Intellectual organizations identified as Ahmed Diraa was “arrested by al-Muthana brigade in Abu Ghraib district.”

In Kirkuk, the police chief said the Iraqi army and his police forces conducted large-scale operations in eight villages of al-Haweija district, south-west Kirkuk, apprehending 18 persons, including 11 wanted individuls, and seizing seven AK-47 rifles.

A Kirkuk, a police source said a roadside bomb went off while an emergency police vehicle was passing in al-Tayaran square, leaving four patrol members and a civilian, who was in the blast radius, wounded.

Elsewhere in Kirkuk, a police source said “police forces conducted a large-scale raid operation in al-Nasr area and informal dwellings, south Kirkuk, arresting 24 suspects including eight wanted men.

In Karbala, the police chief said forces captured 18 persons wanted by the judicial authorities. He added three of the arrested person were militia commanders.

In Wassit, a police source said a roadside bomb placed on the Baghdad-Kut road near the Iraqi army 32nd brigade went off against a police patrol. The source noted the blast left one policeman killed, four others wounded, and caused damage to one of the patrol vehicles.