Militants kill top Iraqi security official

Militants killed a top official in Iraq’s defence ministry in a drive by shooting as he walked into his Baghdad home.

Four gunmen drove up as Essam al-Dijaili, the head of the military’s supply department, was bringing dinner home last night and opened fire, killing him and his bodyguard, said Mishal al-Sarraf, an adviser to the defence minister.

“He was killed in cold blood by the evil hands of the followers of the former regime,” al-Sarraf said.

The assassination was the latest attack on senior Iraqi officials.

Assailants killed the governor of Nineveh Province last week and tried unsuccessfully to assassinate the country’s justice minister.

They have also targeted police officers, accusing them of being collaborators with US forces.