Joint force detonates IED near Kirkuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: A joint U.S.-Iraqi force on Monday safely defused an improvised explosive device (IED) by a controlled explosion near Kirkuk city, according to a local source. “A patrol belonging to Sahwa councils found the explosive charge near al-Jamila village, Huweija district (80 km southwest of Kirkuk),” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. No casualties or damage resulted, the source added. The Sahwa councils are anti-Qaeda fighters working in coordination with the Multi-National Force (MNF) and the Iraqi government. Headed by local chieftains, the councils have been credited with helping reduce violence in many Iraqi provinces, like Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din. Kirkuk, an oil-rich and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians and Arabs, lies 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SS (P) 1