At least 12 Iraqis were killed and six wounded on Saturday in separate explosions in Baghdad and Baquba, as meanwhile the US military detained 18 suspects.In one incident, an explosive device went off on a road between the suburbs of Khanaqin and Saediya, 155 kilometres north-east of Baquba, killing six including two women and wounding another three Iraqis, security sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency said a child was also killed in the blast. Two separate explosive devices were detonated in the industrial district known as Saylo Diyala in southern Baquba, killing one civilian and wounding three - two of them elements of the government- backed Awakening Council, VOI said.
In another incident, the US army has reported that an explosive device was detonated in a house in northern Baghdad, killing five Iraqi soldiers and wounding another two.
An Iraqi soldier was meanwhile stated to have deliberately killed two US soldiers and wounded another three during a joint patrol in Nineveh province on December 26. The US military, in details disclosed Saturday, accused the soldier of opening fire on a patrol which was part of a joint Iraqi and US security operation in the province.
Separately, US military forces detained 18 suspects of al Qaeda network on Saturday during military operations in different Iraqi provinces. According to a US military statement, one suspect was captured from the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, another four were detained in Sadiyah, and ten were detained in Habbaniyah.
The US military forces also said that joint US-Iraqi forces detained nine al Qaeda operatives and killed one on January 3, in the area of Abu Tamur in Diyala province. In other news, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki returned to Baghdad after a week-long stay in Britain, where he was being treated in a London hospital.