At least 3 killed in Iraqi attacks, 5 US losses reported (Roundup)

Mar 26, 2007, 15:03 GMT

Baghdad - At least three Iraqis were killed and 12 injured in attacks on Monday mainly around the capital Baghdad, local Iraqi media reported.

In central Baghdad, two Iraqis were killed and five others wounded in a suicide car bomb blast on Monday, reported local Voices of Iraq news agency citing an Iraqi police source.

In the town of Iskandariya, 50 kilometres south of Baghdad, at least one Iraqi was killed and three others injured in a mortar attack on a residential area on Monday.

A curfew had been imposed in the early hours of Monday after armed clashes resulted in the destruction of a mosque in the town.

In southern Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman and at least three civilians were wounded when an explosive device targeted a police patrol, an Iraqi police source said.

On Sunday, five US soldiers were killed and four wounded, the Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported Monday, citing US military sources.

Four of the soldiers died in a bomb attack in the province of Diyala, while a fifth was killed in north-western Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces Monday confirmed the arrest of an al-Qaeda leader and two of his aides in western Baghdad, according to a report by the Voices of Iraq news agency.

'A force from 3rd Brigade raided Abu Ghraib area and arrested Ahmad Farhan and two of his close associates last Tuesday,' Baghdad security plan spokesman Qassem Atta told a press conference in the city.

Atta played video footage showing Farhan, an emir (leader) of the international terrorist network, confessing to his ties with a wanted man called Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

'I receive support from Syria and Jordan and have got four groups with an emir and 25 members for each,' Farhan said in the videotaped confession.

Atta said Farhan acknowledged his direct responsibility for 300 killings and 200 kidnappings, adding 17 hostages were freed and four kidnappers were arrested in Abu Ghraib.

'Seventy-one wanted terrorists were arrested and ammunition seized in the area of al-Latifiya (south-east of Baghdad),' Atta added.

Reviewing the achievement of the Fard al-Qanoun or Law Enforcement security plan for the period March 21-26, Atta said: '130 terrorists were detained, 227 suspects arrested, 25 hostages freed and large amounts of weapons seized.'

Also Monday, the Iraqi security forces found 430 anti-tank mines, reportedly ready for use, in a house in Jamila area in the mostly Shiite Sadr district in eastern Baghdad.

Iraqi military spokesman Qasem al-Mawsouwi told a press conference that sectarian violence in Baghdad had decreased by 21 per cent in the last week.