Developments in Iraq on April 26

April 26 (Reuters) - Following are security and political developments in Iraq on Wednesday as of 1745 GMT.

Iraq is forming a new government of national unity to combat a mostly Sunni Arab insurgency. Sectarian tensions are running high after the February bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, which unleashed a wave of reprisal attacks.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.

*BAQUBA - A roadside bomb in a village north of Baquba killed at least three civilians and wounds ten, police said.

SAMARRA - U.S. soldiers shot dead an insurgent on Tuesday as he prepared a mortar attack in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD - A bomb inside a minibus exploded, killing a woman and wounding three other civilians in eastern Baghdad, a Ministry of Interior source said.

BAGHDAD - Two civilians were killed and four others wounded when a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the Amiriya district of the capital, a source in the Ministry of Interior said.

FALLUJA - A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. convoy killed one civilian and wounded three in Falluja, west of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - The bodies of four people bearing signs of torture and with gun shot wounds to their heads were found on Wednesday in the Kadhmiya and Yarmouk districts, police said.

BAGHDAD - A civilian was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a police commando patrol in the Mansour district of the capital on Wednesday, police said.

MAHMUDIYA - Three policemen were wounded by a roadside bomb in Mahmudiya, in an area dubbed 'The Triangle of Death' south of Baghdad, police said.

YUSUFIYA - U.S. forces killed 12 insurgents on Tuesday during a raid in Yusufiya, 15 km (9 miles) south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

KERBALA - Police found the bodies of six people, with signs of torture and gunshot wounds, on Tuesday on the outskirts of the holy city of Kerbala, 110 km (62 miles) southwest of Baghdad, police said.

AL-NIBAI - Gunmen on Tuesday killed a truck driver who was delivering material to U.S. forces, in Nibai, a small town near al-Dujail, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen kidnapped a wealthy trader near his house in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Police found a body left in a plastic bag on Tuesday in the small town of Daquq, 35 km (20 miles) south of Kirkuk, police said.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

*BAGHDAD - Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld, in Baghdad to sound out Iraq's new prime minister, said they are impressed by Nuri al-Maliki's commitment to forming a unity government that can avert sectarian civil war.

"He understood his role and the role of the new government to really demonstrate that it's a government of national unity in which all Iraqis could trust," Secretary of State Rice said.

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said the "next benchmark" was for Maliki to form a government with "people who are competent, people who understand the importance of running ministries not as sectarian ministries" and who can fight corruption throughout the country.