Inclination to appoint a Sunni minister of defense in Iraq, scores of gunmen killed
Heavy losses were inflicted on gunmen in Iraq as 86 of them were killed in a violent battle to the west of Tikrit city, to the north of Baghdad, and they thereby lost the largest number in their lines in a single day since the Falluja fighting in November 2004.
A statement by the American- Iraqi military coordination said that Iraqi special forces supported by American land and air forces killed the gunmen in an attack against a training camp including foreigners in al-Helweh area near al-Tharthar lake.
The battle in which 12 Iraqi police men were also killed lasted for more than 17 hours. American and Iraqi sources said that among the killing were gunmen from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Algeria, Morocco and Sudan.
However, eye witnesses in Tikrit city denied the killing of any foreign gunmen and said they calculated 15 persons as having been killed in the lines of the Iraqi army. A group calling itself the groups of the "secret Islamic army in Tikrit city" said in statement that only 11 individuals were killed in the battle, noting that more persons were killed in the Iraqi forces.
The announcement on killing scores of gunmen came at a time when attacks continued in various parts of Iraq inflecting more killing. One Iraqi female child was killed on Wednesday when a mortar shelling fell on her school to the west of Baghdad.
The Iraqi police found two bodies for two Iraqi soldiers near al-Dalou'eya area to the north of Baghdad, while one Iraqi was killed in a bomb explosion targeting an American vehicle in Balad. One person was killed and other three injured when gunmen opened fire at the teacher and students of a religious school in al-Maseeb to the south of Baghdad.
To the west of Baghdad, two Iraqi policemen were killed in a bomb explosion as they were trying to dismantle it. A four member family was killed in their car as a result of another bomb explosion also in Baghdad.
In another development, the American army announced the detention of 70 persons suspected to have carried out the attacks in Musil city, in a vast breaking in operation to the north west of the city.
The Iraqi army also arrested 12 persons suspected to be involved in attacks targeting the Iraqi security forces in Baqouba to the northern west of Baghdad. Police sources said that among the detainees is one Egyptian and two wanted persons.
The recent fields developments in Iraq came while politicians in Baghdad continue talks to agree on the formation of the new Iraqi government after seven weeks from carrying out the general elections. A matter which raised the feeling of frustration among the Iraqis. The prominent figure in the United Iraqi Coalition, Abbas Hassan Mousa al-Bayani, said that the negotiations between his Shiite list and the Kurdish alliance proceed towards appointing an Arab Sunni in the post of the defense minister so as the Sunni will feel they are part of the political process.