11 killed in attacks on Iraq security forces

World

11 killed in attacks on Iraq security forces

Close

Bomb and gun attacks against police and anti-Qaeda militiamen killed 11 people across Iraq.

04 November,2011 04:44 am

The attacks come amid fears that security may worsen after the departure of US forces from Iraq. The roughly 34,000 American soldiers still in the country are to leave by years end.Two roadside bombs exploded near a police special forces checkpoint in the Karrada district of central Baghdad about 6:45 pm (1545 GMT), killing five people, including four police, and wounding 10 others, among them five police, an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.A medical source at Ibn Nafis hospital in Karrada meanwhile said it had received the bodies of three people killed and seven people who were wounded in the bombings.On Thursday morning, a suicide bomber and a car bomb targeted anti-Qaeda militiamen near Baquba, north of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 26, an army officer and a doctor said.The suicide bomber detonated his explosives about 9:15 am (0615 GMT), as Sahwa (Awakening) militiamen gathered near an Iraqi army base to pick up their salaries, a colonel in the Baquba operations command said.A car bomb exploded about 10 minutes later in a nearby parking area as emergency workers arrived at the scene, said the colonel.The attacks killed four Sahwa members and a soldier, and wounded 26 other people -- four ambulance drivers, six civil defence employees and 16 Sahwa members, the officer said.Dr Firas al-Dulaimi of Baquba General Hospital gave the same toll, saying the hospital had received the bodies of three people killed and admitted 28 wounded from the attacks. Two of the wounded later died.The Sahwa are made up of Sunni tribesmen who joined forces with the US military against Al-Qaeda from late 2006, helping turn the tide of the insurgency.Also on Thursday, a policeman was shot dead by unknown gunmen at his home in Mosul in north Iraq, while two other police were wounded by a roadside bomb that targeted their patrol in the city, a police lieutenant said.Violence has declined nationwide since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 258 people were killed in October, according to official figures.