At least seven people killed in Iraq

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday October 2, 2006

Baghdad- Violence across Iraq claimed at least seven lives, including that of a leading al-Qaeda figure, on Monday. Saad Tager Al-Rayashi, also known as Abu Fad'am, was killed during a gunfight between the Iraqi police and militants in Kirkuk, police sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Monday.

The al-Qaeda militant died of wounds sustained three days ago near the Himyariya checkpoint in the town of Rashad west of Kirkuk.

Authorities held Al-Rayashi responsible for several cases of kidnapping and murder on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit.

Four Iraqis were killed Monday in a bomb blast in the city of Latifiya, 40 kilometres south of Baghdad, according to Iraqi authorities.

Police sources said that the explosion took place early in the morning. The bodies of the victims were taken to the city hospital while a police patrol searched the surrounding area for the perpetrators.

In central Baghdad, at least 14 Iraqis were kidnapped from a computer and electronics mall and taken to an unknown location, according to police sources.

Iraqi authorities said that police forces are conducting a wide- scale search for the kidnappers and their victims.

In the same neighbourhood, an Iraqi intelligence officer was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

In Al-Amiriyah district, west of Baghdad, a house of a Shiite MP was burnt down. The attackers were not caught yet but the MP accused Baathists and supporters of ousted leader Saddam Hussein of masterminding the incident. No casualties were reported.

Also in Baghdad, Iraqi police found 50 corpses of people apparently shot to death in and around the capital.

The victims bore signs of torture. Their identities have not yet been determined. They were moved to a Baghdad morgue for an autopsy.

The bloodshed stained other Iraqi cities as well. In Ramadi, 120 kilometres west of Baghdad, 30 insurgents were killed in a joint operation of multinational forces and the Iraqi police. The date and time of the operation remain unannounced.

The incident was reported Monday by the official al-Iraqiya television station. The station added that the operation took place in the al-Tarh district in Ramadi.

In Basra, 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen opened fire on an Iraqi intelligence officer, instantly killing him. It was not clear if the incident was linked to the Baghdad shooting, where another intelligence officer was killed.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Basra police forces was fired for "involvement in administration corruption," according to police sources.

Following a blanket 36-hour curfew imposed on the capital Baghdad from Friday evening until Sunday morning, Iraqi parliament decided to extend the state of emergency over Iraq for 30 days starting the first of October. The region of Kurdistan was excluded, according to parliament's announcement Monday.

The curfew is a reaction to an information leak concerning a possible coup attempt, according to an Iraqi Shiite parliamentary deputy. It is also linked to the detainment of the Sunni Iraqi MP Adnan al-Dulaimi's bodyguard suspected of plotting to carry out bomb attacks inside Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone.

Meanwhile, in the Kurdistan region, local Kurdish officials said that Turkish artillery bombed a number of Kurdish villages Monday while chasing elements of the banned Kurdish group PKK.

Sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the Turkish forces used 120-mm shells to bomb the village of Kuwista. The shells set fire to a wide area of woods and killed a large number of cattle.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency