Hospital director assassinated

Gunmen have assassinated the assistant director of a hospital south of Baghdad, the hospital’s chief said.

Dr Daoud al-Ta’I, director of Mahmoudiya Hospital, said his deputy, Dr Qassem el-Obaidi, was shot dead as he was driving home late last night.

“El-Obaidi was killed by unknown gunmen in a car after leaving hospital for his home,” al-Ta’I said.

Mahmoudiya, 25 miles south of Baghdad, was the scene of a similar attack on Sunday, when gunmen killed two officers travelling to work at their police station in the town.

Mortar fire struck a residential area in central Baghdad early today, killing an Iraqi rubbish collector and injuring another.

The mortar landed just outside the so-called Green Zone, the former home to the US occupation government and current site of Iraq’s interim government and the US and British embassies.