A STRING of deadly blasts shattered an early round of voting in Iraq yesterday, killing 17 people and highlighting the fragile nature of the country’s security gains ahead of crucial parliamentary elections this Sunday.

Iraq security forces have today captured a provincial leader of al-Qaida in Iraq during an operation north of Baghdad, which also left two of his followers dead.

Iraqi troops will be ready to take charge of security in the country by the end of next year, so this month’s UN Security Council extension of the mandate for multinational force in Iraq could be the last, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said today.

US and Iraqi forces fighting insurgents near the Syrian border ran into fierce resistance yesterday with troops encountering dozens of explosive booby traps and killing at least 30 insurgents, the military said.

Iraq’s prime minister disclosed today that more than 170 malnourished Iraqi detainees were found at an Interior Ministry detention centre and that some appeared to have been tortured.