Civilians hurt as Sunni lawmaker's home bombed

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A prominent Sunni lawmaker's home in Mosul was bombed on Tuesday, wounding several civilians, the lawmaker's party said in a statement.

Parliament member Hashim al-Taie -- of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), the largest Sunni Arab political party -- was in Baghdad when the bombing occurred.

The house was bombed by a "criminal gang which led to substantial material damages to the house and neighboring houses and also wounded several innocent civilians," the statement said. "The IIP strongly condemns this attack and renews its call to the government and its security forces to do their real job of controlling security in Mosul."

Al-Taie is a member of the committee charged with resolving the impasse on the provincial elections law.

Parliament has been unable to pass the legislation -- which would have set in motion final planning and a date for the important grass-roots polls. Unless it is passed in the next few days, elections will likely not be held this year because there will not be adequate time to organize the vote.

Also on Tuesday, two roadside bombs in the capital city killed at least one person and wounded seven others, an interior ministry official said.

The first missed its target, an Iraqi police patrol in Baghdad's Suleikh neighborhood, and wounded four civilians, the official said.

The second, targeting an Iraqi Army patrol in central Baghdad, killed at least one civilian and wounded three others.

Also in Baghdad, two roadside bombs exploded outside an Awakening member's house, wounding him and his son, the interior ministry official said.

The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

The attack occurred in the Ameriya district, which is predominantly Sunni.

Awakening groups, also known as Sons of Iraq, are primarily a Sunni movement composed of former insurgents or sympathizers who have turned against al Qaeda. The U.S. military credits them for having played a key role in bringing about the nationwide drop in violence that coincided with the "surge" in U.S. forces in Iraq.

As of October 1, the Iraqi government will begin paying the salaries of more than half of the Sons of Iraq. They had been on the U.S. payroll.

Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed and three were wounded Tuesday in a small-arms attack outside Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

The incident occurred in Salman Pak, also known as al-Madaen, a town about 19 miles (30 km) east of Baghdad, the U.S. military and an Interior Ministry official said. As often happens, the U.S. military and the Interior Ministry provided starkly different accounts.

The ministry official told CNN that U.S. troops raided a house in Salman Pak and searched a girl. In response, the girl's brother pulled out a gun and shot at the U.S. troops before they wounded him, the official said.

The U.S. troops wounded another man and killed two elderly people in the house, the official said.

The official said there were U.S. casualties.

But U.S. military spokesman Maj. John C. Hall told CNN that U.S. soldiers were speaking with locals in the Hilaliya area when gunmen shot at them. The soldiers returned fire and killed four gunmen, Hall said in an e-mail.

No other details were provided, and Hall said more information would be released as it became available.

The wounded were taken to a coalition medical facility, Hall said. The name of the deceased soldier, who was assigned to Multi-National Division-Center, was not released.

With the death, 4,170 U.S. military personnel have died in the Iraq war, including 19 in September.

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