At least nine suspected al-Qaeda insurgents have been killed in clashes with Iraqi security forces in the central Iraqi town of Dhuluiya. An Iraqi police official, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Jassim, said on Monday that the fighting in the town of Dhuluiya -- 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad -- broke out early Sunday morning. The clash resulted to the death of nine militants and left four others wounded. 17 suspected militants including four non-Iraqi nationals were also captured by the Iraqi forces.
This is while at least five people were killed and 15 others were injured last Wednesday in Dhuluiya after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb inside a mosque.
An official at a security forces command center in Tikrit said the bomber was a young man of around 15 to 16 years old.
Iraq has been the scene of bomb blasts and deadly fighting ever since US-led forces invaded the oil-rich country in March 2003.