Developments in Iraq on May 18

May 18 (Reuters) - The following are security and political developments in Iraq on Thursday as of 1030 GMT.

Iraq is trying to form a government of national unity to combat a mostly Sunni Arab insurgency.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen opened fire at a minibus carrying labourers killing six in southwestern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Seven people, including four policemen, were killed and four other people wounded when a car bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in northern Baghdad, police said.

* KIRKUK - Gunmen shot dead a school teacher along with a student in the oil city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

* BASRA - A bomb exploded in front of the house of Basra's police chief, police said. Major-General Hassan Suwadi was unharmed.

* FALLUJA - A policeman and two insurgents were wounded in clashes in Falluja, west of Baghdad, police said.

* AL-MALIH - Iraqi police found the bodies of two people, handcuffed, blindfolded and shot dead, in al-Malih village, about 75 km south of Baghdad, police said.

* BASRA - Gunmen killed Nazar Abdulzahra, a former football player in Iraq's national team, in Basra on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.

MOSUL - U.S. forces wounded nine insurgents who were planting a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, the U.S. military said on Thursday. A civilian was also wounded in the incident.

MOSUL - U.S. forces killed three insurgents who were attacking civilians in Mosul, the U.S. military said. Another insurgent was wounded by the Iraqi army as he tried to flee the scene. The insurgents wounded three civilians.

BASRA - Gunmen wounded a military intelligence lieutenant-colonel along with his driver in the southern city of Basra, 550 km south of Baghdad, an intelligence source said.

ANBAR PROVINCE - A member of the U.S. Navy was killed on Wednesday during a combat operation in the western Anbar Province, the U.S. military said on Thursday. Most U.S. Navy personnel in that area are attached to Marine units as medics.

* NEAR NAJAF - A policeman was killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a convoy of U.S. military and Iraqi police vehicles near the Shi'ite city of Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad, police said.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament expects to hold a confirmation vote on a new government on Saturday, the speaker told lawmakers on Wednesday, signalling the prime minister was close to a deal on a cabinet line-up.