Soldier wounded in IED blast in Touz Khormato

SALAH AL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi soldier was wounded on Monday when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near his vehicle in central Touz Khormato district, Salah al-Din province, a security source said. “The IED exploded as an Iraqi army vehicle was passing on the Tikrit-Touz highway, leaving one soldier wounded and damaging his vehicle,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The wounded serviceman was rushed to Touz Khormato hospital for treatment,” the source said, not giving more details. Touz Khormato lies 100 km east of the city of Tikrit. Salah al-Din has an area of 24,751 square kilometers (9,556.4 sq mi). The estimated population for 2003 was 2,146,500 people. Located in Central Iraq, north of Baghdad, it is a mainly Sunni province with only two Shiite districts, namely Balad and al-Dujail. Its capital city is Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. It also includes other important districts like Baiji, north of Tikrit , 175 km north of Baghdad. The province also contains the significantly larger city of Samarra. Before 1976 the province was part of the governorate of Baghdad. It is named after Saladin (written Salah ah Din in modern Arabic), an ethnic Kurd and hero of the 12 th century. Salahuddin province is a variant version of the province’s name. AmR (S)/SR 1