Tribal chief among 15 dead in Iraq violence (Roundup)

Nov 12, 2007, 13:44 GMT

Baghdad - An Iraqi academic and a tribal chief were killed on Monday in a fresh bout of violence that also claimed the lives of 13 other people, including terror suspects killed in security raids, local sources and media reports said.

In the city of Baquba, gunmen fired on a vehicle killing Dr Haitham Abdel-Salam, an academic from the university of Kirkuk, police sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

A second passenger was also killed in the attack, with a third person wounded, the sources said.

In Talafar in the northern province of Nineveh, independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) reported the shooting dead by gunmen of Mubarak al-Jihishi, a tribal chief.

Police chased the assailants, killing four and arresting two, VOI reported. Weapons were also seized.

The Iraqi army additionally said it killed eight gunmen and arrested 60 suspects in raids launched across the country over the previous 24 hours, VOI cited a military statement as saying.

In Baghdad, a prominent Sunni leader said the Azamyah district of the city had been completely cleared of insurgents.

Ahmad Abdel-Ghafur al-Samarrai said coordinated efforts between the local population and Iraqi and US troops had led to the defeat of insurgents in the district.

US troops in mid-2006 began building a controversial security barrier around Azamyah saying it would curb sectarian violence in the predominantly Sunni district.

Meanwhile in a crackdown launched overnight close to the city of Baquba, at least 59 terror suspects were arrested in the town of Bihriz, city police chief General Ghanim al-Kureishi told reporters.

A key al-Qaeda operative was among the captives, al-Kureishi said.

The al-Qaeda terror network has lost the war in Baquba but a few pockets of resistance remained here and there, he added.

'Military operations will continue until the city is completely cleared of terror groups,' the police chief said.

A large-scale security offensive has been mounted since June in Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, to flush out al-Qaeda fighters.

The city had been seen as a safe haven for al-Qaeda loyalists who set up the so-called Islamic State of Iraq.

Also in Iraq, a Sunni mosque located close to the southern city of Basra was attacked Sunday following evening prayers.

Gunmen stormed the Majsa mosque in the town of Zubair, west of Basra, and held several worshippers captive before leaving. No-one was hurt in the incident.

Basra, 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, is preparing for a transfer of security from British troops to Iraqi authorities, which is scheduled for December 12.