Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has vowed to impose order in the northern city of Mosul, where he is overseeing a crackdown on al-Qaida in Iraq.
Mr. Maliki said Thursday that his government wants to end the suffering of Mosul's population. Al-Qaida fighters regrouped in Mosul after U.S. and Iraqi forces drove them out of Baghdad and Anbar province last year.
The U.S. military said Iraqi troops captured an al-Qaida-linked terrorist in Mosul Thursday, and detained six other suspects. Iraqi forces have arrested more than 500 suspected militants in the area since the operation began earlier this week.
In Baghdad, gunmen attacked a car carrying Iranian embassy staff, wounding three Iranians and their Iraqi driver.
Iranian state media blamed the U.S. military for the shooting. The Reuters news agency quotes a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Major Brad Leighton as calling the allegation "ridiculous."
Earlier in the day, Iraqi forces battled Shi'ite militants in Baghdad's Sadr City district. The fighting killed at least seven people and wounded 19 others, despite both sides agreeing to a truce last Saturday.
In other violence, the U.S. military says American soldiers shot and killed an insurgent who attacked them in eastern Baghdad Thursday. It says coalition forces also killed two terrorists and detained three others in a battle with al-Qaida fighters west of Baghdad.
U.S. forces also are operating in Mosul, providing logistical and intelligence support to Iraqi troops leading the crackdown on al-Qaida.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
