FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Feb 18
Source: Reuters
Feb 18 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1130 GMT on Sunday: * denotes a new or updated item. * SAMAWA - Colonel Ali Mutashar, police commander in Samawa, escaped unharmed after a roadside bomb attack exploded near his convoy in Samawa, 270 km (170 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. Four of his bodyguards were wounded. * SUWAYRA - Police retrieved the bullet-riddled body of a man from a river in the town of Suwayra, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. * BAGHDAD - Brigadier Qassim al-Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi general leading the new Baghdad plan, said 327 displaced families had returned to their homes in different districts of the capital since the crackdown was formally launched on Wednesday. * SULAIMAN PAEK - The bodies of two men, with gunshot wounds and signs of torture, were found in the town of Sulaiman Pak, 80 km (60 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said. * BASRA - British forces clashed with gunmen armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades in a Shi'ite militia stronghold of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, killing at least three, Iraqi police said. The British military confirmed the clashes, saying its soldiers had been supporting Iraqi troops on a "strike operation" in the northern slum area of Hayaniya when they came under attack. BAGHDAD - Police retrieved the bodies of five people shot dead on Saturday in different districts of Baghdad, police said. MOSUL - Clashes erupted between gunmen and the police in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. A police colonel was wounded during the clashes. BALAD - The bodies of three people were found shot dead on Saturday in the town of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a joint U.S. and Iraqi coordination centre said. BAGHDAD - Iraqi army detained 38 insurgents within 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.
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