Sunni gunmen attack volatile city near Baghdad

Baghdad, Nov 19: Sunni insurgents swept through parts of the volatile city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, attacking a police checkpoint and shooting some residents after pulling them from their homes and cars, police said today.

Police had imposed a day-long curfew after yesterday's attacks in the city, which even in the chaos gripping much of Iraq ranks as one of the country's most dangerous places. It was lifted early today but gunmen still held some areas.

US military spokesmen declined comment on the situation.

Sunni insurgents, including al Qaeda Islamists, dominate Baquba, capital of Diyala province. The region has a mixed population of Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs as well as ethnic Kurds, earning it the nickname among US commanders of ''Little Iraq''.

Many Shi'ites have fled Baquba, turning some parts into a ghost town, while Sunnis have moved into the city from rural districts where Shi'ite militias, some it seems in league with the Iraqi army and police, have raided Sunni settlements.

Police in the city, frequent targets of ambushes, shootings and bombings, are ill-equipped to stand up to the Sunni insurgents fighting US forces and the Shi'ite-led government.

''There is not a day that passes without dozens of people being killed either from bombs, shootings or assassinations,'' one senior policeman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters. ''This has been going on for months.'' The figures could not be verified. Reuters typically reports several violent deaths a day in the province, but much of the region is inaccessible to both the media and security forces.

Police said yesterday's violence began when gunmen attacked a police checkpoint, killing two policemen and wounding two. They then spread through the town, pulling people from their homes or cars and shooting them in the head after blindfolding them.

The execution victims included but were not exclusively policemen and Shi'ites, police said. Mortars also rained down on one residential district, killing five people and wounding 10.

Separately, gunmen loyal to Shi'ite cleric and militia commander Moqtada al-Sadr burned shops in a market in reprisal for an attack on their offices in the town, police said.

By Sunday morning, police had lifted the curfew but had blocked off the main street. Gunmen remained in control of four districts and attacked a second checkpoint, police said.

The violence again highlighted the weakness of Iraq's US-trained security forces, which are a key part of Washington's plans for an eventual withdrawal of its troops.

Attacks and reprisals by both sides have surged since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February, making Diyala one of the main faultlines of sectarian hatred.

US military commanders last week accused the Iraqi army commander in the province of targeting Sunni leaders and turning a blind eye to Shi'ite death squads. One said he was pushing Diyala toward civil war. The government denied the accusations.

REUTERS