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5 gunmen arrested east of Kut

March 1, 2009 - 01:04:30

WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq: A police force arrested five gunmen with arms in their possession east of the city of al-Kut on Sunday, a security source in Wassit province said.

“The five gunmen were involved in armed clashes against the Iraqi police. Machine-guns and hand-grenades were seized in their possession near the Jassan-Kut checkpoint, (40 km) east of al-Kut,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“Initial investigations with the gunmen proved their involvement in an armed attack on the police and their killing of a policeman as well as their involvement in the murder of the son of Habeeb al-Khateeb, the representative of senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in al-No’maniya district last year,” the source added.

Armed clashes erupted on Sunday between the Iraqi police and unidentified gunmen near al-Rimmi square, 20 east of Kut, leaving one policeman killed and one gunman wounded.

The area where the gunmen were arrested belongs to the district of al-Dabbouni, 55 km north of Kut, which witnessed in 2008 several kidnappings, killings and pillaging, prompting the security forces to enhance intelligence presence in this area to track down the persons carrying out these operations.

Kut, the capital city of Wassit, lies 180 km southeast of Baghdad.

AmR (P)/SR

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