Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

IRAQ

Military leader among 17 killed

A string of attacks across Iraq killed 17 people on Saturday, including a senior military commander, a colonel, and five soldiers who all died during a raid on an al-Qaeda hideout, officials said.

Police officials said Maj. Gen Mohammed al-Karawi, the colonel, and the troops were killed when they stormed the booby-trapped hideout in Anbar province. Karawi, who commanded the Iraqi army's Seventh Division, was leading a search operation hunting for al-Qaeda fighters.

"Those heroes were carrying the noblest battles against the enemies of God and humanity," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said. He urged the Iraqi security forces to "eradicate the evil gangs and chase them everywhere." Shootings and shellings killed the other 10 people. - AP