19 killed in violent attacks in Iraq

Three members of the pro-government Sahwa militia were killed and three others wounded when a roadside bomb targeted their car in Tarmiya, 30 km north of Baghdad, he added.


The Sahwa militia, also known as the 'awakening council' or 'the sons of Iraq', consists of armed groups, including some former anti-US Sunni insurgent groups, who turned their rifles against the Al Qaeda network after its leaders became dismayed by the group's brutality and religious zealotry in the country.

Two policemen were killed and another police officer was wounded when a roadside bomb struck a police patrol in the Hamam Aleal area of southern Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, the police source said.

An Iraqi army officer was killed and two soldiers were seriously wounded when a roadside bomb targeted their patrol in the same area, the source said, adding that a bomb hit a civilian car in the Gelyuhan village south of Mosul and killed the driver.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 7,000 Iraqis were killed and over 16,000 others injured from January to October this year.