By Xinhua
Tikrit (Iraq) : A policeman and seven gunmen have been killed in separate clashes between the security forces and suspected insurgents in the restive Salahudin province, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the police said.
Eighteen suspected insurgents were also detained by the government security forces in the province Tuesday, a police official said.
At first the gunmen attacked a police checkpoint outside the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, and fled the scene, Hassan Ahmad from the provincial police command told Xinhua.
Afterwards, a joint force from the police, Iraqi army and fighters from the local Awakening Council group chased the attackers in Shiek Hamad village near Shirqat town and fought with them, which resulted in the killing of seven gunmen and a policeman, Ahmad said.
The joint forces also arrested 18 gunmen who are believed to have close ties with the Al Qaeda network in Iraq, he said.