Jan 28, 2007, 16:00 GMT
Baghdad - Ongoing violence in and around Baghdad claimed at least 47 more Iraqi lives on Sunday despite beefed-up security and police raids.
In Kirkuk, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, a car bomb killed eight Iraqis and wounded 15 others in a district dominated by Shiites and Kurds. The car implanted with a bomb was detonated in a busy car market.
Adel Abdel-Mohsen, adviser to the Minister of Industry, was shot down by armed militants in Yarmouk district, western Baghdad. His two daughters and three other accompanies were also killed.
Earlier, and in the same area, an adviser for the Agriculture Ministry was also killed, reported state Al-Iraqia channel.
The Agriculture Ministry official was accompanying four other Iraqis in a vehicle when they were shot at by armed militants in Yarmouk district, western Baghdad. The official, whose name was not disclosed, and his escorts died instantly.
Another Iraqi was killed, and seven were wounded, when an explosive device blew up inside a mini-bus in the east of the violent-marred capital.
Near al-Nedaa, a Sunni mosque northern Baghdad, a person was killed and nine others were wounded when an explosive-laden car, parked on the side of the road, blew up.
The street was busy with labourers looking for day jobs. Separately, eyewitnesses told Deustche Presse-Agentur dpa that mortar shells fell on a school western Baghdad killing five female students and wounding 20 others.
In Shiite-dominated Sadr city, eastern Baghdad, a vehicle exploded, killing at least four people and wounding 32 others.
Meanwhile, armed clashes erupted between Iraqi security forces and 'terrorist' group Najaf, 180 kilometres south of Baghdad.
Najaf and neighbouring city Karbala, where more than 25,000 policemen and soldiers were deployed last Tuesday, are currently swarming with Muslim pilgrims who are celebrating the Shiite Ashura festival.
In the area of Zarka in Kufa, near Najaf, similar clashes between militants belonging to Jund Allah (Soldiers of God) and Iraqi policeman took place, where US military helicopters reportedly provided aide during the raid.
Najaf governor Assad Abu-Kalal told the press that at least 14 militants were killed so far and five Afghani militants were detained during the ongoing clashes.
The governor confirmed that US military helicopter provided cover for the security forces. However, he did not confirm circulating reports that a US helicopter crashed saying only that 'a foreign object' had crashed into a nearby river.
The governor refused to issue further comments.
In Soueira, 45 kilometres south of Baghdad, armed clashes between joint Iraqi army and security forces from one side and militants from another were also reported.
The clashes occurred after the forces cordoned off the village and started performing house-by-house raids toeing terror suspects.
According to a credible police source, who chose to remain anonymous, at least three Iraqi servicemen were killed and four others wounded. A militant was also accidentally injured.
The village that housed the Islamic militants also suffered 'losses' that were not fully assessed by the joint forces, according to the police source.
Earlier in the day, the joint Iraqi forces had asked for urgent assistance from the US military, 'who carried out an air raid on the village,' causing some damage in the process.
The day before, a police station in the same village was attacked by mortar shells. Reportedly, those responsible for the incident are among those targeted in Sunday's raid.
Iraq continues to be engulfed by violence as Premiere Nuri al- Maliki continues to promote his new-found Iraq security plan where forces around Baghdad are expected to be boosted, and better equipped.
On Sunday, a source close to al-Maliki said that the date of the initiation of the Iraqi plan remains 'unknown' and will be not be previously announced for security reasons.
Shiite MP Hassan al-Sanid told Iraqi press that al-Maliki will 'surprise the militants and the outlaws.'
Your Talkback on this Story