8 arrested following Kirkuk blast

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Eight persons on Monday were arrested during a search raid in Kirkuk city following an explosive device blast that left four soldiers killed or wounded, according to a military source. “Those arrested included an amir (leader) in the so-called Islamic State of Iraq,” an army commander, Staff Lt. Col. Shawan Ghareeb, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “A number of explosive charges and weapons were seized during the raid,” Ghareeb added. The self-styled Islamic State of Iraq is an armed organization that was set up in October 2006. Most prominent of its groups is al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by a man called Abu Omar al-Boghdadi. Kirkuk, a mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians and Arabs, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SS (P) 1