At least 18 killed, 20 wounded in latest attacks in Iraq (Roundup)

Sep 28, 2007, 14:04 GMT

Baghdad - US helicopters shelled a residential building in Baghdad's southern Doura neighbourhood, killing 13, including two women and four children, while four people were shot dead in Diyala province, media reports said Friday.

At least 11 other Iraqis were wounded in the US raid, Iraqi private al-Sharkiya TV reported, citing Iraqi police and medical sources.

The US military did not comment on the incident.

Meanwhile, four civilians were killed and nine others wounded when gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms opened fire on a cafe in the central Saadiya region of Diyala province, an official security source told independent Voices of Iraq (VOI)news agency.

The gunmen managed to escape, the source added.

Saadiya is an ethnically-mixed region of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans.

Diyala province, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, has been the target of recurrent attacks, especially by al-Qaeda terrorist network militants.

Joint Iraqi-US forces had launched the security operation named Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala province on June 19 in a bid to rid Baquba and other cities from al-Qaeda militants.

In west Diwaniyah, 200 kilometres south of Baghdad, the dead body of a policeman was found almost 30 minutes after he had been abducted by unidentified gunmen Friday in al-Askari neighbourhood, VOI reported.

According to a police source, the body bore signs of gunshot wounds.

In other news, US coalition forces captured a wanted suspected terrorist and detained six other suspects in operations Friday to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq operations in the Tigris River Valley, the US military in Iraq reported.