Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered a five-hour midday ban on all vehicle traffic in Baghdad and Baqouba, state TV reported Friday, in a bid to prevent reprisal attacks by suicide car bombers following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Iraqiya TV said the ban would be in effect from 11 a.m until 4 p.m., when most Iraqis go to mosques for Friday prayers.
Meanwhile, five civilians died and three were wounded Friday during a firefight in the area of Ghalibiya, west of Baqouba, according to the regional authorities.
Elsewhere, the torso of a man wearing a military uniform was found floating in a river Friday morning near Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, morgue official Hadi al-Ettabi said, according to the AP.
Police also found five unidentified bodies late Thursday of men who had been shot in the head in eastern Baghdad. And gunmen opened fire on Friday's funeral procession for the brother of the governor of the northern city of Mosul. Zuhair Kashmola was killed by gunmen on Thursday.
In another development, an Australian security guard was identified as one of four victims in a roadside bombing in northern Iraq on Thursday. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the 34-year-old man, whose name was not released, was guarding a vehicle convoy at the time of the attack, which occurred about 190 miles north of Baghdad.
