6 security members killed in attacks in Iraq's violence

BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Six security members were killed and another wounded Tuesday in separate gunfire and bomb attacks in western and eastern Iraq, the police said.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, unidentified gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in the town of Rutba, some 375 km west of Baghdad, killing five policemen, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi security forces cordoned off the scene and carried out operation in the area, while the police were investigating the incident, the source said.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a member of a government- backed Awakening Council group was killed and his brother wounded when a sticky bomb attached to their car detonated in the western part of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua.

The Awakening Council group, or Sahwa in Arabic, consists of armed groups, including some powerful anti-U.S. Sunni insurgent groups which fought al-Qaida militants in the Sunni Arab areas after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Also in the province, Iraqi security forces carried out search operations across the province over the past 24 hours and arrested 12 suspects, including seven wanted individuals, the source added.

Insurgents continue daily attacks including suicide bombings across Iraq since the U.S. troops pulled out of the country earlier last month.


from XINHUA

Posted in: Al Anbar Governorate, Anbar, Baghdad, Iraq, Iraqi security forces, Ramadi, Shia Islam, Sunni Islam