43 killed in Iraqi clashes
2006-10-27 21:26
Baghdad - About 43 people including militants, Iraqi cops and one civilian were killed in fierce clashes that followed a militant attack near the Iraqi city of Baquba, said the US military on Friday.
Sources said that unidentified militants ambushed an Iraqi police unit near Khan Bani Saad in Diyala province on Thursday morning.
Police fought back from house to house until they were reinforced with air and ground US forces.
The US forces killed 18 militants, wounded eight and captured 27, in addition seizing weapons and ammunition.
About 24 Iraqi police officers and one Iraqi civilian were killed in the clashes, the military said.
Seven police officers were among 15 people wounded.
No casualties were reported among US forces.
In another development extremists on Friday destroyed two Shi'ite shrines close to the village of Shabeega near Daquq, 220km north of Baghdad, said police sources.
The shrines of Sheikh Ismaeil and Sheikh Mahasen were destroyed by explosive blasts. Both had belonged to the Turkmen Shi'ites of Daquq.
Daquq is inhabited by Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds of both Sunni and Shi'ite faiths and had been considered one of the safest villages in the region.
Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims has marred Iraqi reconstruction, with the destruction of a key Shi'ite mosque in Samarra last February prompting a wave of inter-faith violence.
- SAPA