At least 45 people were killed, including militants, civilians, volunteer fighters and soldiers in separate incidents Thursday around Iraq, sources said, according to dpa. In the village of Hawr Rajab south of Baghdad, militants believed to belong to the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq attacked at dawn an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing at least three soldiers and wounding another three, a security source told Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency. After the gunmen had seized two army vehicles, they attacked the Hawr Rajab Awakening council premises, killing eight fighters, the source added. The anti-al-Qaeda Awakening Councils had been formed of Sunni volunteer fighters and tribal leaders working cooperatively with Iraq9s government and the US military to rid the Iraqi cities of al- Qaeda militants. In other developments, at least eight Iraqi civilians and three gunmen were killed when militants and inhabitants of Abu Saida village in north-east Baquba exchanged fire, an Iraqi police source said. Five gunmen were arrested, while the others managed to escape, the source added.
