Minibus bomber kills five in Baghdad

A suicide bomber drove a minibus rigged with explosives at a police station south of Baghdad today, killing at least five people and wounding 25.

“At 8.30 this morning, a minibus approached Mahawil police station with three people inside,” said Sabah Kadhim, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

“Two of them got out and opened fire on the guards, while the driver carried on towards the police station and blew up.”

The two gunmen fled the scene, Kadhim said.

The attack in the town of Mahawil, 53 miles south of the capital, was the latest in a spate of bombings to target police as part of insurgents’ bid to undermine Iraq’s progress since an interim government took power in the end of June.

On Tuesday, a car bomb exploded at an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint outside the city of Baqouba, killing six guardsmen and wounding six others.

A week earlier, a car bombing outside a police station in the same city killed at least 70 people and wounded scores more.