Shiite party members killed in attacks

Insurgents launched separate attacks on two Shiite Muslim political parties today, killing three people and wounding two others, hospital officials and witnesses said.

Attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the offices of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said party member Maitham Ibrahim.

Three party members died and two were injured, hospital officials said.

About an hour later, gunmen stormed the offices of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s political party, the National Accord Movement, setting off an explosion before fleeing, witnesses said.

No one was hurt.

Flames and smoke poured from the building. Police sealed off the area.

The attacks underscored the deep political and religious friction afflicting the country in the days leading to the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.

The attacks in this city, 35 miles north-east of the capital Baghdad, came only days after guerrillas launched a series of assaults against police stations and government complexes, killing about 100 people.