July 5 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 0700 GMT on Thursday:

SAMAWA - Clashes between the Shi'ite Mehdi Army militia and Iraqi police left at least three people dead, including a policeman, and six wounded in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, police said. The clashes began after police attempted to arrest a senior Sadrist official in the city.

KIRKUK - A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded three other people, including two policemen, when it detonated near a passing police patrol vehicle on the outskirts of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Police found the bodies of 16 people across Baghdad on Wednesday, police sources said. Most were believed to be victims of sectarian attacks in the religiously mixed capital.

BAGHDAD - Mortar attacks on residential districts in south and west Baghdad wounded four people on Wednesday, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen abducted five shop owners in Baghdad's eastern district of Mashtal, police said.

ISKANDARIYA - A mortar round wounded two people late on Wednesday when it landed on a house in the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

ISKANDARIYA - Police found the body of a former officer in the Iraqi Army in Iskandariya on Wednesday, police said.

FALLUJA - Iraqi police found the bodies of five people in a rural area north of the Sunni city of Falluja, police said.

AlertNet news is provided by