Developments in Iraq on June 4

June 4 (Reuters) - The following are security and other developments in Iraq on Sunday as of 1100 GMT.

The new Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to rein in insurgent and sectarian violence that has killed thousands of people since U.S.-forces invaded Iraq in 2003.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated entry.

*NEAR BAQUBA - A U.S. artillery round landed in a small Iraqi town and police reported afterwards that two civilians were killed in a blast and one woman later died from her wounds, the U.S. military said. Three other people were also reported wounded and six houses were damaged in the town of Hibhib, north of Baghdad, after a U.S. artillery unit fired a 155 mm round during training on Friday, it said in a statement.

*SAMAWA - One policeman and two protesters were wounded in a clash that erupted when about 500 demonstrators gathered outside a provincial government building to demand better services and an end to corruption, witnesses and police said. A curfew was later declared in the town 270 km (168 miles) south of Baghdad.

*FALLUJA - A U.S. soldier died as a result of enemy action in the western Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

*BAGHDAD - Iraqi army soldiers detained 19 suspected "terrorists" in a search operation in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

BAQUBA - Gunmen shot dead two civilians standing outside a grocery story in the town of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAQUBA - Roadside bomb exploded outside a local army headquarters, wounding two military personnel, police said.

BAGHDAD - Police found 15 bodies in different parts of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR UDHAIM - Gunmen dragged 24 civilians out of their cars at a makeshift checkpoint near the town of Udhaim, 120 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad, on Sunday and shot them dead, a senior police official said.

KIRKUK - A civilian was killed when a roadside bomb exploded in the town of Dibis, 40 km (25 miles) northwest of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police said.

LATIFIYA - Gunmen stormed a school and abducted the headteacher, a teacher and a guard in Latifiya, 40 km south of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - One policeman was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed four people working for a state-run communications company and wounded two others in Baghdad on Sunday, police sources said.

BASRA - A Sunni religious group in the southern Iraqi city of Basra said on Sunday police killed 12 unarmed worshippers in a Sunni mosque, but police said they returned fire.

A police source said they had received a tip-off that "terrorists" had taken refuge inside al-Arab mosque and were fired on when they surrounded it on Saturday night. They said nine gunmen were killed and six arrested.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT:

BAGHDAD - A parliament session in which new defence and interior ministers were expected to be chosen has been postponed "until further notice", the deputy speaker said. Khaled al-Attiya did not give reasons for the postponement but government sources said the powerful Shi'ite Alliance is deadlocked on a nominee for the Interior Ministry post.

BAGHDAD - An Iraqi Interior Ministry official denied a state television report that four Russian embassy employees kidnapped in Baghdad had been released. "They are still abducted," the official told Reuters, declining to be named.

A Russian embassy employee in Baghdad was killed on Saturday and four other embassy staff were kidnapped when gunmen blocked their vehicle in the capital's western Mansour district.