Senior Anti-terror Cop Among 8 killed in Iraq Violance

TIKRIT: Attacks in Iraq on Thursday killed eight people, including a senior anti-terror officer who led a key fight back against Al-Qaeda in his province, police said.

Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Fahel, the head of the Saleheddin province anti-terror squad, and at least three of his bodyguards were among five people killed by a suicide bomber in Tikrit, the hometown of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

“The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, who was wearing a vest packed with explosives,” said Colonel Abdel Haadi of the Salaheddin joint operations command.

Seven people were wounded by the blast in a jewellery store, which struck at around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) in Tikrit, 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In another incident in northern Iraq, two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint in the town of Mohallabiyah, 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the main northern city of Mosul, when gunmen opened fire on them before fleeing.

In the capital Baghdad, one person was killed and six wounded by a bomb in Adhamiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab northern neighbourhood, an interior ministry official said.