FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Jan 10
Source: Reuters
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 2000 GMT on Wednesday: * Denotes a new or updated item. *KERBALA - Gunmen opened fire on two buses of Shi'ite pilgrims returning across the desert through the Nukhaib area in Sunni-dominated Anbar province from the haj at Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, killing 11 and wounding 14, officials in Kerbala and Baghdad said. The casualties were from the Shi'ite city of Hilla, near Kerbala, they said. Kerbala governor Aqeel al-Khazali told state television the sectarian attack was triggered by what he called a "false" story on Tuesday, when Sunni community leaders said Sunni haj pilgrims were kidnapped. *BAGHDAD - Police recovered the bodies of 60 people with gunshot wounds and signs of torture from various parts of Baghdad in the 24 hours to Wednesday evening, an Interior Ministry source said. *MOSUL - Police found the bodies of eight people from different districts of Mosul 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. FALLUJA - Two U.S. soldiers died on Tuesday from wounds sustained in combat in restive Anbar province, the U.S. military said. MOSUL - Three mortar rounds landed near a girls' high school, wounding three pupils as well as two women and three children in nearby houses in the northern city of Mosul, police said. KIRKUK - A roadside bomb exploded near a car carrying the son of a police colonel, wounding him and two others in the northern city of Kirkuk, police said. TAL AFAR - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market in the northern town of Tal Afar, killing four people and wounding 11, police and the town's mayor said. BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said 21 people were detained in a joint U.S. and Iraqi operation to clear a Sunni insurgent stronghold in the Haifa Street district of Baghdad on Tuesday. The operation involved 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops, the U.S. military said. The area was calm on Wednesday. QAIM - Four bodies with signs of torture and gunshot wounds were found on the outskirts of Qaim in western Iraq, police said. NEAR TAL AFAR - A suicide car bomber targeting a police patrol killed a child and wounded three policemen and one civilian near Tal Afar, police said. MAHAWEEL - The bodies of four people were found shot dead and bound in the town of Mahaweel, 75 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. ISKANDARIYA - A body was found shot dead and bound in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. TIKRIT - One U.S. soldier died on Tuesday from a gunshot wound after being shot in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. MAHMUDIYA - A car bomb exploded near a petrol station in Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding three others, police said. OTHER DEVELOPMENTS NAJAF - Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie visited Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf. Rubaie said they discussed the latest developments in security and services, and government efforts to help people displaced by violence.
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