Aug 7 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1400 GMT on Thursday.

* denotes new or updated item.

* NASSIRIYA - A mortar shell in the ground exploded and killed eight Iraqi family members as they pitched a tent in the desert near Nassiriya in southern Iraq, Sadiq al-Misharafawi, head of the police press department of Dhi Qar province, said.

MOSUL - Four policemen were killed when their patrol approached the body of a policeman in civilian clothes lying near a booby-trapped wooden cart in western Mosul, police said.

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces detained 25 suspected insurgents during sweeps targeting al-Qaeda militants in central and northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

MOSUL - Three policemen were wounded when a car bomb exploded in the parking lot belonging to the police directorate in Baaj, a town 375 km (235 miles) northwest of Baghdad, said Abdul-Rahim al-Shimeri, the town's mayor.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed Mahmoud Younis, a local leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad. He was shot dead along with his body guard near his house in western Mosul, police and the head of the party in the city said. The party is one of three groups that form parliament's Sunni Arab bloc.

BAGHDAD - Three U.S-backed neighbourhood patrol group members were killed and two wounded on Wednesday when gunmen in a car opened fire at their checkpoint in the Sulaikh district of northern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - The body of a man was found with gunshot wounds in Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.

MOSUL - Iraqi army forces killed two gunmen and seized their weapons after chasing them on Wednesday in eastern Mosul, police said.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said it had captured two suspected insurgents in Baghdad believed to be associated with "special groups", a term it uses for Shi'ite militias it says are linked to Iran.

KIRKUK - One person was wounded when a roadside bomb went off on Wednesday in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

(Compiled by Aseel Kami)

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