At least five al-Qaeda terrorist suspects were killed and two police officers wounded in separate attacks in Iraq, US military and media reports said Friday. Detentions and arrests were also reported. In the city of Samraa, 125 kilometres north of Baghdad, members of the Awakening Council killed four al-Qaeda suspects and released a number of kidnapped drivers, the Iraqi News Agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) reported. The Awakening Councils are local police squads formed mainly in Sunni areas in many Iraqi provinces to fight al-Qaeda insurgents. Many Sunni insurgents and reformed al-Qaeda loyalists have joined their ranks. In another development, two police officers were injured when an explosive device targeting an Iraqi patrol detonated east of Baghdad. In Basra, southern Iraq, Iraqi security forces detained 35 members of the al-Yamani group, which also calls itself Soldiers of Heaven, and is a shadowy Shiite messianic cult. Many of its followers were either killed or arrested in clashes a year ago and the group has since re-emerged in southern Iraq, where it was involved in renewed violence over the weekend. US security forces killed Thursday one al-Qaeda suspect and detained 19 others during military operations, targeting al-Qaeda network, in northern and central Iraq, a US military statement said Friday.
