At least four killed, 10 wounded, 11 detained in Iraq (Roundup)

Jan 30, 2008, 15:02 GMT

Baghdad - At least four people were killed and 10 wounded in separate incidents in Iraq, while 11 militants were detained, Iraqi officials and media reports said Wednesday.

In one incident, suspected militants from the al-Qaeda terrorist network killed a civilian and wounded three others from the same family in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) said.

The militants attacked the civilians on the main road leading to al-Khales district.

In Baquba, the capital of Diyala, two members of the Awakening Council were killed, while another three were injured, security sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The Awakening Councils are local police squads formed mainly in Sunni areas in many Iraqi provinces to fight al-Qaeda insurgents. Many Sunni insurgents and reformed al-Qaeda loyalists have joined the ranks of the Awakening Councils

Sources said the militants shot the vehicle of the dead near Aswad village in northern Baquba.

An explosive device went off targeting an Iraqi patrol in Aghadeer district in eastern Baghdad injuring three civilians. Another bomb was detonated near the Technological University wounding an Iraqi policeman.

In another development, the Iraqi government is sending military reinforcements into Mosul as part of a 'decisive battle' against militants, al-Arabiya news channel reported.

Iraqi forces killed a militant who was planting an explosive device in new Mosul city, west of Mosul, and found two corpses, VIO said.

Forces found another corpse and two heads in the northern province of Salahaddin.

Iraqi authorities Tuesday detained 11 suspects in Baghdad, sources told dpa.

Sources said two weapon caches were also found in the Iraqi capital.

In Kirkuk, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, Iraqi authorities have instituted a plan to secure the borders of the province of Nineveh, into which al-Qaeda militants stream to carry out military operations.