Security incidents in Iraq, Aug 9

BAGHDAD, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents in Iraq reported on Wednesday, Aug. 9, as of 1200 GMT.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.

*BAGHDAD - Nine bodies were found in various districts of Baghdad and all were killed by gunshots, police said.

*BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed five people and wounded two in western Baghdad when they opened fire on a street vendor grilling fish, an Interior Ministry source said.

*BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army has arrested 78 suspected insurgents and freed two kidnapped during the last 24 hours in different cities in Iraq, the army said on Wednesday.

*KIRKUK - The police arrested eight insurgents in Kirkuk, police said.

*BAGHDAD - U.S. forces said they arrested a wanted member of al Qaeda in Iraq and two associates on Tuesday during a raid southeast of Baghdad.

*RAMADI - Three civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb beside a U.S. patrol in the western city of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, the Civil Defence Directorate said.

BAQUBA - Five people were killed and 20 wounded overnight Tuesday when a rocket hit three-storey building in the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, an explosives expert in the police said. The building collapsed and witnesses said more may be trapped in the rubble.

KIRKUK - Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb beside their patrol on the main road between Hawija and Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - A civilian was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb near their car in the main road between Hawija and Kirkuk, police said.

KIRKUK - The police arrested two people while they were planting a bomb on the side of the road in Kirkuk, police said.

AL-ZAB - The police found a beheaded body of a man in al- Zab, an area about 35 km (20 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - A civilian was killed and another hurt by a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in east Baghdad, police said.

BASRA - Gunmen killed Army Colonel Qasim Abdul Qadir on his way to work in Basra, Iraq's second city, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, the army said.

BAIJI - Gunmen abducted two Iraqi contractors working with the U.S. military on Tuesday in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

DOUR - The police found the bodies of two people shot in the head and chest on Tuesday in the small town of Dour, near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.