3 killed in attack on Iraq anti-Qaeda militia

Four bombs targeting the home of an Iraqi anti-Qaeda militia leader killed at least three people and wounded several others north of Baghdad on Saturday, security officials said. The bomb blasts struck the home of Yassin Issa Daud, a leader of Sahwa (Awakening) militia in Taji, north of Baghdad, about 6:30am (0330 GMT), Taji police Captain Ahmed Fahad said. The explosions killed three people, including Daud's brother and wife, and wounded six other people, Fahad said, adding Daud was not in his home at the time of the attack. Officials from the interior and defence ministries put the toll at four killed and 11 wounded. "Four people were killed and 11 others wounded by the explosion of four roadside bombs that targeted the house of a Sahwa leader in Taji," an interior ministry official said. The defence ministry official gave the same toll. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity. On Thursday, a suicide bomber and a car bomb targeted Sahwa militiamen near Baquba, north of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 26, an army officer and a doctor said. The Sahwa are made up of Sunni tribesmen who joined forces with the US military against Al-Qaeda from late 2006, helping turn the tide of the insurgency. Amir al-Khuzai, adviser to the prime minister for reconciliation affairs, said the Sahwa once numbered about 87,000, but that more than 40,000 of them are still awaiting promised public sector jobs.