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Iraq Sunni battle leaves 22 dead Iraqi sheikh 'killed by al-Qaeda'
(about 2 hours later)
At least 22 people have been killed and five abducted in an attack by suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq militants north-east of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. A Sunni leader in the Iraqi province of Diyala, who encouraged his community to confront al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been killed by the group, police say.
The militants fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at houses and a Sunni mosque in the town of Kanaan. The militants exploded a bomb in his house in the town of Kanaan, and fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at other houses and a Sunni mosque.
A local Sunni sheikh and several of his sons were killed. They recently fought alongside US and Iraqi troops against the militants, who are also Sunnis. There are conflicting reports, but police in nearby Baquba said a total of 22 civilians died in the dawn attack.
The militants then seized five women before retreating, residents said. The attackers then seized at least seven people before retreating.
Baquba police chief Gen Ali Dilayan said the attackers had destroyed houses "crowded with family members". Some of those kidnapped were women and children, residents said.
Rival groupRival group
Two of the houses belonged to sheikhs opposed to the militants, he said. Baquba police chief Gen Ali Dilayan said dozens of suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq militants had attacked Kanaan early on Thursday morning.
One of the sheikhs, named as Yunis al-Tae, was killed. The militants first attacked a police checkpoint and then fired mortars at the local Sunni mosque.
Police counterattacked with the support of gunmen from a rival group once allied to al-Qaeda in Iraq and drove the militants away, reports said. "They blew up the mosque then they bombed houses crowded with family members," he told the AFP news agency.
Gen Dilayan said 22 of the attackers had been arrested south of Kanaan in an area known to be a stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq. One of the houses belonged to Sheikh Yunis al-Tai, well known in the area for his opposition to the al-Qaeda in Iraq, he said. They killed him and at least one of his family members and wounded others.
The home of another local sheikh was also attacked, but he was not there at the time.
Police then counterattacked with the support of gunmen from a rival group once allied to al-Qaeda in Iraq and drove the militants away, reports said.
Gen Dilayan said 22 of the attackers had been arrested south of Kanaan in an area known to be an al-Qaeda stronghold.
Until a few months ago, al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups were fighting side by side against Iraqi government and US-led forces.Until a few months ago, al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups were fighting side by side against Iraqi government and US-led forces.
But increasing numbers of the militants' former allies in the Sunni community have turned against them, mainly because they dislike the austere form of Islam that they practise.But increasing numbers of the militants' former allies in the Sunni community have turned against them, mainly because they dislike the austere form of Islam that they practise.
The uprising began in the troubled Anbar province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, but has since spread to Diyala province, where the latest attacks took place, and some areas of Baghdad.The uprising began in the troubled Anbar province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, but has since spread to Diyala province, where the latest attacks took place, and some areas of Baghdad.