At least two killed, six wounded in Iraqi violence (Roundup)

Apr 13, 2008, 14:52 GMT

Baghdad - At least two people were killed, including a member of the Awakening Council, and six wounded Sunday in separate incidents in Iraq, police and witnesses said.

In one incident, an Awakening Council member was killed when an explosive device was detonated targeting a patrol in Zab area in the city of Kirkuk, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, police sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Also in Kirkuk, two passengers were seriously injured when a bomb went off in a bus, targeting a checkpoint in Hoziran district, police said.

Another explosive device was detonated near an Awakening Council patrol in Kharab Rot area north of Kirkuk, wounding three members of the council.

Awakening Councils are local police squads located mainly in Sunni Iraqi provinces and aim at fighting militants of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Iraqi police detained four suspected terrorists in Wasety district in the same city.

In another development, Iraqi security forces detained five aides of the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in different areas of the city of Basra, some 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, Shiite Sadrist Hareth al-Azari told dpa.

'We knew that the five men were assaulted by the security forces,' al-Azari said.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Howaidy, a member of the Iraqi army, told dpa that security forces were carrying out search operations for banned weapons in the districts of Hayaniya and Hussein.

He said that large numbers of weapons have been confiscated and scores of illegal militants have been detained.

Earlier, Iraq's defence minister was quoted by the al-Sabah newspaper as saying forces had found an Iranian weapons cache and a number of explosives in Basra.

Separately, a US soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb went off targeting a US patrol in Jabla area in the city of Hillah, some 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, witnesses told dpa.

Reacting to the explosion, soldiers randomly opened fire, killing one civilian, the witnesses said.

In other news, Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi met Sunday with Bert Gork, assistant to Coalition Provisional Authority chief, and discussed the security situation and political process in Iraq.

According to a statement issued by Iraq's presidency, al-Hashimi said the stability of Iraq's security situation greatly depends on the performance of the forces, which needs sufficient training.

Al-Hashimi stressed the importance of improving military bodies in Iraq's interior ministry and clearing unqualified troops from military units.

Gork also said the withdrawal of US soldiers will start next July, adding that there will be a security assessment after 45 days of their withdrawal.