Officer killed, 2 policemen wounded in IED blast in Falluja

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: An officer was killed and two policemen wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in central Falluja city on Sunday, a local security source said. “The IED went off near an Iraqi police patrol on al-Sharrar street, central Falluja, killing a police officer and wounding two personnel,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The patrol vehicles were damaged in the explosion. All roads leading to the blast scene were sealed off,” the source added. Falluja, the largest city of the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar, has been marked by acts of violence and armed operations since 2004 between the Iraqi and U.S. forces on one hand and armed groups stemming from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) network on the other. In early 2006, the sahwa (awakening) tribal fighters teamed up with the Iraqi and U.S. forces and managed to expel AQI operatives from the province. Falluja lies 45 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P) 2