FACTBOX: Security developments in Iraq

(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1700 GMT on Tuesday.

* Denotes new or updated item.

* NEAR BAGHDAD - Three U.S. soldiers killed by roadside bomb southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Four policemen were killed and eight others wounded when a car bomb exploded near their patrol in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces killed four suspected militants and detained 17 in operations on Monday and Tuesday targeting al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A militant killed one street cleaner and wounded six others when he threw a hand grenade at their vehicle in eastern Baghdad's Zayouna neighborhood, police said.

BAGHDAD - A bomb in a minibus killed one person and wounded four others in the central Baghdad Alawi bus terminal, police said.

BAQUBA - Police confirmed Iraqi academic Jamal Mustafa was taken from his house on Sunday in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the abduction.

BAGHDAD - Four bodies were found in different districts of Baghdad on Monday, police said.

MOSUL - Police said they found four bodies in the northern city of Mosul.

NEAR KIRKUK - A body was found shot and tortured on Monday night near the city of Kirkuk, police said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen killed an off-duty policeman in a drive-by shooting in central Kirkuk, police said.

NAJAF - Gunmen killed a police lieutenant on Monday in the holy city of Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - Three nightguards were wounded, some seriously, in a drive-by shooting about 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Two policemen were wounded when a mortar round landed in the Mansour district of western Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A bomb inside a minibus wounded two people on a highway in eastern Baghdad, police said.