Twenty-seven Iraqis dead in fresh wave of violence (Roundup)

Jul 14, 2007, 13:59 GMT

Baghdad - A fresh wave of violence gripped Iraq on Saturday leaving at least 27 people dead in five separate incidents in and around the capital Baghdad, according to Iraqi authorities and local news reports.

In the town of al-Muqdadiyah, on the suburbs on the north-eastern Sunni-dominated Baquba province, 12 Iraqis belonging to one family were killed when a group of unidentified gunmen stormed into their houses and opened fire on them. The attackers fled immediately after the bloodbath, a police source said.

The incident happened even as US Arrowhead Ripper operations and raids continued across Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad. During past weeks, the US military - with the aid of local security forces - had reportedly killed over 100 al-Qaeda-affiliated militants and captured around 250 others.

In another incident, a group of unknown militants attacked a house in al-Hilla, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, shooting dead nine people and wounding three others. The victims in the dawn attack included a number of women and children, according to police sources.

In Baghdad, at least two Iraqi civilians were killed and 15 others wounded when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near a fuel station in the southern Baghdad area of al-Mashn, the Iraqi police told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Al-Mashn is a busy commercial area near the so-called Rashid Camp and is usually crowded with people during the time of the day when the blast occurred.

Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and five others were wounded when a group of unidentified gunmen attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in northern Baquba, capital of Diyala province, official police sources told VOI.

Meanwhile, the same news source reported that one gunman was killed and two others injured 'while planting an explosive device' on a main road leading to al-Khalis, 62 kilometres east of Baghdad.

The two wounded gunmen have been moved to a hospital for treatment, and are currently under police custody.

On a different note, the US-led coalition said Saturday that a militant, suspected to be a senior al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, 'surrendered' to their forces during a raid in Mosul, 400 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The arrested leader is allegedly the 'security emir' of Mosul 'operating terrorist cells in the area and maintaining connections to other high-level al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders,' the statement said.

The multinational forces had detained 18 other suspected terrorists during early morning operations in central and northern Iraq targeting insurgents and terrorist cell leaders.

Separately, VOI reported that Kirkuk's police forces dismantled a cell belonging to the so-called al-Ashreen (1920) Revolution Brigades.

The forces arrested three persons, including a key member called Abu Qudama, in a security operation early Saturday. Abu Qudama is allegedly the militant group's financial and administrative official.

Meanwhile in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, local authorities decided to lift a 24-hour curfew that was imposed early Friday to curb violence and protect Shiite pilgrims visiting the Iman Ali shrine.

A spokesman for the city council in Najaf had earlier justified the blanket curfew by saying there was the risk of 'possible terrorist acts of revenge.'