mosul • A suicide truck bomber ploughed into an Iraqi army post yesterday, killing 14 people, as violence continued around the country in defiance of large-scale security operations in several cities.

At the same time, an important sheikh from the western province of Al Anbar said tribal fighters had killed 34 mostly foreign Al Qaeda fighters and arrested 40 more in a week-long drive against militant infiltrators. Police in the northern town of Tall Afar said an attacker ran a lorry laden with explosives into a house being used by soldiers as an observation post, killing four soldiers and 10 civilian bystanders.

Meanwhile, the streets of Kirkuk were deserted as Iraqi authorities imposed an indefinite curfew and launched an operation to hunt for weapons and rebels in house-to-house searches. “So far 150 Iraqis have been arrested. The operation also led to the confiscation of 250 weapons and seven suspect cars,” said Major General Shirko Shakr, commander of Kirkuk’s police. “These operations are the first of their kind in Kirkuk, with more than 14,000 police and soldiers supported by US helicopters,” said police Captain Emad Jassim Khidr.