Security Summary: January 18, 2007

An Iraqi special police commando stands guard at a checkpoint in Baghdad today

BAGHDAD - Police recovered the bodies of 26 people tortured and shot dead in different districts of Baghdad in the past 24 hours, a police source said.

MOSUL - Police found the bodies of nine people including that of a policeman in various districts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen shot dead a mosque preacher in a drive-by shooting in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

ISKANDARIYA - Gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, killing three and wounding one, police said.

BAGHDAD - Two people were killed and four wounded in a car bomb in the New Baghdad district in the east of the capital, police said.

BAGHDAD - Mortars killed four people and wounded 13 more on Wednesday night in northern Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen opened fire on a wedding convoy in Mosul, killing two people and wounding four, police said.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers killed three insurgents and arrested 57 others during the past 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

TIKRIT - Iraqi police seized 83 crude oil trucks in the city of Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The trucks were heading to Kurdistan in northern Iraq.

SAMARRA - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded three policemen in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, the Iraqi-U.S. Joint Military Centre said.

BAGHDAD - Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in a wholesale vegetable market, killed 10 people and wounded 30 others in the southern Doura district of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb targeting a police patrol killed four people and wounded 10 others in Saadoun Street in central Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed three people and wounded seven others in eastern Baghdad, police said.

ISKANDARIYA - Police said they found a body of a man, bound and shot dead, in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad.

MOSUL - A suicide car bomber blew himself up near a police patrol, killing a civilian and wounding four policemen and two civilians in Mosul, police said.

MOSUL - A policeman was killed and another wounded when insurgents threw a bomb at a police checkpoint in Mosul, police said.

KIFIL - Gunmen attacked a civilian car and wounded its driver on Wednesday night in the town of Kifil, near Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet