Security Summary: August 31, 2007

Above: A U.S. soldier keeps watch on a group of women during a house to house search in Baqubah today.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. military plane carrying a U.S. congressional delegation came under fire on Thursday while taking off from Baghdad airport, forcing the crew to take evasive action, the military said.

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces killed five militants and detained 13 others during raids targeting local al Qaeda leaders in the Tigris River Valley, the military said.

SAMARRA - A suicide car bomb killed four police commandos and wounded seven others when it targeted their patrol in al-Jallam village near Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen killed a barber in a drive-by shooting in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

HAQLANIYA - Two tribesmen and four al Qaeda militants were killed in clashes on Thursday in the town of Haqlaniya near Haditha, 250 km (150 miles) west of Baghdad, Haditha police chief Colonel Faruq Hardan said. KUT - Gumen killed one man and wounded another when they opened fire on a crowded area in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.

ANBAR PROVINCE - U.S. forces killed 12 al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents and destroyed two vehicles on Wednesday near the town of Garma, west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

ANBAR PROVINCE - A U.S. Marine and a soldier were killed in combat in Anbar on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Police found five bodies in different districts of Baghdad on Thursday, police said.

KUT - Gunmen killed a man on Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Kut, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed an engineering student on Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

RIYADH - Police found two bodies tortured and shot near the town of Riyadh, southwest of the northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday, police said.

HAWIJA - Gunmen killed an employee of the customs office in in Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

From Reuters/Alternet