U.S. forces thwarted two terrorist bombing operations in Baquba, north of Baghdad, a U.S. military statement said Wednesday, according to DPA. Two terrorists were detained and another killed during the incidents Tuesday at a checkpoint, the statement added. The first incident occurred just before noon, when soldiers stopped a suspicious car and detained the driver after discovering the vehicle was being prepared as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED). An explosives ordnance disposal team found no explosives, but found that the car was laced with wiring used to detonate explosives. The car was confiscated and taken to a nearby military base. Several hours later, a second vehicle tried to race through the checkpoint and soldiers fired at it. The driver was killed and the vehicle came to a quick stop. Two men with AK-47 assault rifles jumped out and an exchange of fire ensued. One gunman escaped and the other gunman, wearing an explosives laden suicide belt, was wounded and surrounded. An explosive ordnance disposal team arrived and removed the belt containing more than three pounds of plastic explosives. The man was treated for his wounds and detained. The developments came amid several other violent incidents around Iraq on Wednesday. The Iraqi army shot dead 11 Iraqi prisoners and wounded three in Kadhimiya prison in northern Baghdad as inmates tried to escape, a senior defence ministry official said.
