At least 19 killed and 45 wounded in Iraq violence (Roundup)

Sep 16, 2007, 14:48 GMT

Baghdad - A total of 19 people were killed and 45 were wounded in two separate attacks in Baghdad and the northern Iraqi town of Tuz Khormato on Sunday.

In one incident, witnesses said at least 10 Iraqis were killed and 20 were wounded when a car bomb exploded in a crowded commercial street in the al-Mansour district of western Baghdad.

Initial police reports had said only two were killed.

Gunfire was also reported after the explosion and local news reports said a firefight between militants and police forces followed the blast.

However, witnesses at the scene claimed that the security personnel of a foreign company had fired their guns in a reflex reaction to the blast. Police sources could not be reached for comment.

In a separate incident, five Iraqis were killed and 22 were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a coffee shop in Tuz Khormato, police sources said.

Witnesses saw ambulances rushing to the scene of the attack in the Kurdish town, 180 kilometres north of Baghdad, which has a mixed Shiite and Sunni population.

The casualty toll could rise in the hours following the attack, a local government official Mohammed Nuri said.

Meanwhile, four Iraqis were gunned down, including a senior police officer and his son, in a village 30 kilometres south of Hilla, a city of south of Baghdad. Three people were wounded in the attack.

Gunmen had reportedly attacked the police officer's house and opened fire on its residents, an officer in Babel police department told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

In other developments, US forces in Iraq said Sunday that a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist linked to the killing of influential Sunni tribal leader Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha was captured during operations a day earlier.

According to a statement by the US military, the captured suspect, Fallah al-Jumayli, also known as Abu Khamis, is believed to be involved in the plot that killed Abu Risha in addition to other acts of violence including car bomb attacks.

Al-Jumayli is also believed to be closely allied with senior leaders of the group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Abu Risha, one of the Sunni leaders who joined forces with other tribes in western Iraq to fight militants of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, was killed in a bomb attack on his convoy last Thursday, 50 metres from his home in Ramadi in the north-western province of Anbar.

General Abdel-Karim Khalaf of Iraq's Interior Ministry told reporters Sunday that a brigade bearing the name of Abu Risha would be formed and added to the police forces in Anbar.

The slain leader Abu Risha, considered a 'martyr' by Khalaf, was the head and founder of the Anbar Salvation Council, which made al- Qaeda in Iraq its target.

The Islamic State of Iraq group claimed responsibility for killing Abu Risha on Saturday.

This group is affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network and also comprises Sunni insurgent groups across several provinces including Anbar.

Meanwhile, a number of Karbala's local leaders were arrested in connection with the recent violence in the city in which more than 52 were killed and around 300 wounded.

One of the leaders is a member of the Sadr faction, whose militant supporters are considered responsible for the violence on the day of an annual Shiite festival in the holy city of Karbala, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.

The deputy governor of the city was among those rounded up.

On August 28, heavy infighting occurred between militants belonging to the Sadrists, elements loyal to feared Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, and Shiite police forces.

The incident happened near two holy shrines where crowds of Shiite visitors had gathered.

The bloodshed was quickly condemned by both Sadr leaders and the government.

Investigations followed and hundreds of Sadr supporters in addition to members of the so-called Mahdi Army, Sadr's paramilitary wing, were rounded up. Shortly after the incident, al-Sadr decided to freeze the militias for six months saying that the ranks of the army would be overhauled.

On a different note, Jaafar al-Moussawy, head of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, told Voices of Iraq that a date has not been set for the Anfal case executions.

He added that they are not expected to take place during the holy month of Ramadan, which began last Thursday for Sunni Arabs.

The court had earlier sentenced to death Ali Hassan al-Majid (also known as 'Chemical Ali' because of the use of mustard gas against the Kurds), former defence minister Sultan Hashim and Hussein al-Tikriti.

The three men were convicted with killing thousands of Kurds perished in an ethnic cleansing campaign led by al-Majid in northern Iraq in 1987.