WORLD> Middle East
Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-01 17:09

BAQUBA, Iraq: A total of seven people were killed and 41 others injured in separate attacks in Iraq's volatile province of Diyala during late Monday and early Tuesday, said a provincial police source Tuesday.

Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence
A suspected al-Qaida militant who calls himself Mohammed Hassan al-Shemari speaks after he was arrested in Diyala by Iraqi forces in Baghdad August 30, 2009. [Agencies] Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence

Five people were killed and 18 others wounded in a car bomb explosion on Monday evening at a busy popular market in the town of Qara Tabba, some 190 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday morning, the source said the Iraqi security forces captured a suspect named Mohammed Aqeel for allegedly being behind the deadly car bombing in the town.

Also late on Monday, Udai al-Khadran, mayor of the town of Khalis, some 70 km northeast of Baghdad, escaped with wounds a roadside bomb explosion near his convoy while passing a crowded popular market in the town, which killed a civilian and wounded 14 more people, the source added.

Khdran's son, brother and three of his bodyguards were among the wounded, he said.

Related readings:
Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence Syria, Iraq accuse each other of worsening tension
Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence Iraq's al-Qaida claims Baghdad government bombings
Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence Iraq may blacklist Sinopec after Addax deal
Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violence Series of bombs in southern Iraq, 4 killed
Seven killed in Iraq's Diyala violenceSuicide bombers kill 21 in northern Iraq
Early on Tuesday morning, four gunmen in a car shot dead the head of a local Awakening Council group near his house in the northern provincial capital city of Baquba, the source said.

The government-backed Awakening Council groups, also known as Sahwa in Arabic, are mostly Sunni paramilitary groups who fight the extremist Muslim militants of al-Qaida in Iraq network.

Eight more people, including a policeman, were wounded in separate incidents across the province, the source added.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, despite repeated US and Iraqi military operations against them.