Ten people died in two roadside blasts in Baghdad and the northern city of Samarra on Wednesday, according to security officials. In the Samarra attack, five national police officers died when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol, Police Captain Alaa al-Samarrai said, according to AFP.
In north Baghdad, a roadside bomb went off in a market, killing five people, according to a security official. He said another 10 people were injured.
Meanwhile US-led forces continued to battle gunmen on the outskirts of Baghdad. Six gunmen were killed when a British warplane bombed a building south of Baghdad following an attack on an Iraqi police checkpoint on Tuesday, the US military said. The Tornado fighter plane dropped a 900-kilogram bomb after gunmen attacked a police station and checkpoint near Salman Pak, southeast of Baghdad.
The military also said its ongoing assault in the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, has killed 60 gunmen since it started on June 19.
Meanwhile, Sunnis claimed an arrest warrant against a Sunni Cabinet minister is another step by the Shiite-led government to marginalize the country's Sunni minority. The comments were made Wednesday one day after Iraqi commandos raided the Baghdad home of Culture Minister Asad Kamal al-Hashimi and detained about 40 of his guards.
The minister was not at home at the time, but officials said a warrant had been issued for his arrest in a 2005 assassination attempt on another politician.
Those moves have angered Sunni groups and politicians, who warn they could jeopardize U.S.-backed reconciliation efforts.
