FACTBOX-Security Developments In Iraq, Dec 31

Two people were killed and nine were wounded when two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in northern Mosul.

SINJAR - A car bomb killed four people and wounded 45 more on Wednesday in Sinjar, a town located some 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad in the volatile Nineveh province. BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier died of combat wounds on Wednesday in Balad, around 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. Another U.S. soldier died on Wednesday after a mortar attack in Baghdad.

MOSUL - Two people were killed and nine were wounded when two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The first bomb targeted a police patrol, causing no casualties.

MOSUL - Gunmen in central Mosul shot dead Mowaffaq al-Hamdani, a candidate in next month's provincial elections, police said. The gunmen also killed one policeman and wounded another during a police chase.

BASRA - Police arrested a leader of the "Soldiers of Heaven," a messianic Shi'ite cult, and four other suspected militants near the southern city of Basra on Tuesday, said Adel Deham, a local police official.

Police said the militants were planning to conduct attacks in the city of Karbala during the upcoming Ashura holiday, an important event for Shi'ite Muslims.

MOSUL - A decomposing body was found on Tuesday near Mosul, police said.

MOSUL - Police said they found the body of a man who had been shot in the head and chest in central Mosul on Tuesday.