Shi'ite village attacked north of Baghdad - police

BAGHDAD, July 18 (Reuters) One villager was killed and 15 wounded today by gunmen who stormed a Shi'ite village in the troubled Iraqi province of Diyala, two days after 29 people were shot dead in a neighbouring Shi'ite community, police said.

The attack on the village of Al-Safi, north of Diyala's main city Baquba, came from three sides at once and there were women and children among the wounded, said Colonel Raghib Radhi, a spokesman for the province's security operations.

There was no immediate description of the attackers.

More than two dozen men dressed in Iraqi military uniforms shot dead 29 Shi'ite men in the nearby village of Duwailiya on Monday.

Police said they stalked the community, shooting any men they found.

Women often stay indoors in such rural communities.

The US military said it had since found camouflage uniforms, a weapons cache and abandoned vehicles matching the description of those used in the attack in Duwailiya.

Radhi blamed Monday's killing on militants fleeing US and Iraqi security forces, who last month launched a major operation in Baquba to corner and kill Sunni Islamist al Qaeda fighters.

Thousands of troops swept into Baquba to tackle an estimated several hundred al Qaeda militants who had turned the city into a stronghold. But US commanders say many of the most senior al Qaeda figures departed before the net closed.

REUTERS SM PM2025