Police officer shot dead by sniper bullet in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: A police officer in the rank of captain was shot down by a sniper bullet in western Diala province on Sunday, a security source said. “The officer was killed in al-Hudayyeb area, (3 km) west of Baaquba city, the theater of confrontations between Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and security forces since the early hours of Sunday (Sept. 12),” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The incident took place about four hours after an army officer was killed in Buhrez district, (5 km) south of Baaquba,” he added. He did not give more details. Earlier, a security source told IraqiNews.com that Captain Wathiq al-Majmai’e, an Iraqi army’s 5th Division officer in Diala, was killed and his wife and two children severely wounded after an improvised explosive device (IED) planted near his house in Buhrez went off just as Majmai’e was entering his house driveway. Meanwhile, a security source had said eight suspects were arrested on charges of involvement in armed clashes earlier today that left three AQI members killed and 10 policemen killed or wounded. Hudayyeb, which lies on the road linking Baaquba to the capital Baghdad, is a key stronghold of the AQI and was until recent under the armed group’s control. Baaquba, the capital city of the troubled province of Diala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. AmR (S) 2