Unknown gunmen kill 1 Iraqi army soldier, wounds 2 in Ninewa

NINEWA, Sept.21 (Iraqi News) An Iraqi soldier was killed and two others were wounded in an armed attack against a military convoy in Ninewa on Sunday, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire into an Iraqi army convoy passing by al-Hadba district, east Mosul, leaving one serviceman killed and two others wounded,”a Ninewa military source, who requested anonymity, told IraqiNews.com-Voices of Iraq(Iraqi News). The source did not elaborate further details about the attack. Mosul, the provincial capital of Ninewa, 400 km north Baghdad, is viewed by U.S. and Iraqi authorities as one of the last remaining al-Qaida strongholds in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a two-phase military crackdown in the northern city in May. Ninewa officials said the gains from these operations, however, have disintegrated as militant groups re-entered the city there due to an insufficient number of Iraqi troops to maintain security following operations in May. AM(S) 68