Five killed, six injured amid militant arrests in Iraq (Roundup)

Sep 1, 2010, 16:39 GMT

Mosul/Kirkuk, Iraq - Five people were killed and six injured in a series of attacks in Iraq on Wednesday, which also saw police forces arrest 38 suspected militants, security officials said.

Two policemen were killed and six people injured by a bomb blast targeting a police checkpoint in the area of Wadi Hajar in the northern city of Mosul.

A woman was also killed by unknown gunmen who raided her house in the area of Hay el-Islah, police said.

Two other policemen were killed in an exchange of fire with gunmen during a security operation targeting a militant stronghold in western Mosul.

Police arrested 20 people during that operation, all of whom are wanted for involvement in terrorist activities.

Separately, Iraqi police arrested 18 people suspected of being insurgents and uncovered large ammunition caches in the northern city of Kirkuk.

Search operations by Iraqi forces and United States advisors led to the capture of 10 people who were on wanted terrorists' lists, said Sarhad Qader from the police in Kirkuk, which lies 250 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad.

An additional eight people were detained during the operations on suspicion of involvement in militant acts, Qader told the German Press Agency dpa.

Kirkuk, a divided city, is home to populations of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and has been the scene of harsh sectarian violence.

The US military has ended its combat mission in Iraq but still has just under 50,000 troops in the country in advisory, training and counter terrorism roles.