U.S. and Iraqi security forces launched overnight raids on the government offices in the volatile province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, killing the governor's secretary and detaining others, a provincial police source said on Tuesday.
U.S. and Iraqi Forces air-dropped troops at about 2:00 a.m. (2300 GMT on Monday) on the buildings of the provincial government offices with the aim of detaining the governor of Diyala Raad Rasheed Mullah Jawad, who was not present at the scene during the raid, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
During the raid, the troops clashed with the guards of the offices, killing Abbas Ali Hmoud, the governor's secretary and wounding three policemen, the source said.
The troops also detained Hussein al-Zubaidi, head of the security committee of the provincial council, the source added.
Another force raided Diyala University and detained its chancellor, Nezar al-Khafaji, after clashes with the guards resulted in the wounding of four security members, he said.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi unit withdrew from the area after conducting its raids in the capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad.
Last week, Jawad survived unhurt an assassination attempt when a suicide bomber struck his convoy in central Baquba.
On June 20, Iraqi forces detained Rafie Abdul Jabbar, deputy governor of Maysan province in south of Baghdad for charges of aiding militias loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The attacks came as U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are conducting major offensive against extremist Sunni and Shiite militiamen in Diyala which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border.
Source: Xinhua
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