BAQUBA, Iraq, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- One civilian was killed and seven others were wounded in separate incidents in Diyala province in eastern Iraq on Sunday, a provincial police source said.

    A civilian was killed and five others injured in a shootout erupted in the day between two families in a village near the city of Khalis, some 70 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off at a village near the town of Khan Bani Saad, some 50 km northeast of Baghdad, wounding a man and a woman, the source said.

    Also in the province, Iraqi Army and police force searched an area near the city of Khalis, arresting three extremist Shiite militiamen, the source added.

    In addition, a U.S. force stormed Himreen area, located some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, arresting three suspected al-Qaida members, he said.

    The U.S. military has no immediate comment on the incident.

    Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite repeated U.S. and Iraqi military operations against them.