12 killed in Baghdad mortar attack

BAGHDAD: At least 12 people were killed and 31 were wounded in an intensive mortar bombardment of an eastern Baghdad suburb on Sunday, security and medical officials in Iraq said.   

An interior ministry official said the attack came during heavy clashes in the mainly Shiite suburb of Al-Obeidi between the US military and militiamen.   

"Many mortars were fired. The area has been sealed off," the official said.   

A security official said at least five mortar shells landed in the suburb and that all those killed were civilians.   

The Al-Sadr hospital in the sprawling Sadr City slum reported receiving 12 bodies and 18 wounded people, while the Ibn Nafees hospital in central Baghdad said 13 wounded had been taken there for treatment.   

In another incident, one person was killed and five wounded when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded in the busy Al-Shorjah market close to the city centre, a security official said.   

Al-Shorjah is the oldest and largest market in the Iraqi capital.   

Separately, one person was killed and three were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in central Baghdad's Mishin area, which is home to numerous tyre dealerships, a security official said.   

The US military, meanwhile, said American-led forces killed three suspected militants and detained 21 others in a series of operations on Sunday aimed at Al-Qaeda in Iraq.   

Two suspected militants were killed in a raid targeting the leader of an Al-Qaeda in Iraq cell near the town of Muqdadiyah in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, a military statement said.   

The two were gunned down by snipers when they refused to leave a building and were perceived by US troops to be a "hostile threat," the statement said.   

In the town of Tarmiyah, just north of the capital, US-led forces conducted an operation to "disrupt a foreign terrorist facilitation network that safeguards senior leaders of Al-Qaeda in Iraq," the statement said.   

One man who had been rounded up during the operation "made threatening movements" and troops shot him in "self-defence," the statement said, adding that Iraqis on the scene identified him as a member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which the US blames for much of the violence in the country.   

Seven suspected militants were arrested during the operation, the statement said.   

More suspected militants were arrested in a series of raids in other parts of Iraq, including in northern Salah ad Din province, the US military said.