Seven policemen killed in assassination bid

A car bomb exploded northeast of the Iraqi capital today, killing at least seven police officers in an apparent attempt to assassinate a deputy governor who was wounded in the blast.

The deputy governor of Diyala province, Aqil Hamid al-Adili, was in stable condition and was being treated at a medical facility of the US-led coalition, US military spokesman Major Neal O’Brien said.

“This was a suicide attack with a booby-trapped car,” Police Brigadier Daoud Mahmoud Mahmoud said. “We are busy moving casualties to the hospital.”

O’Brien said a white station wagon laden with explosives blew up outside al-Adili’s home.

At least 17 people were also wounded in the blast, including police and passers-by, Mahmoud said.

Several police were deployed in two vehicles outside the residence to protect al-Adili, who was home at the time.

The blast shattered the windows of al-Adili’s house, blew doors off their hinges and slightly injured the deputy governor’s nine-year-old son, Mahmoud said.

O’Brien said troops from the US Army 1st Infantry Division’s 30th Brigade Combat Team went to the scene of the attack to investigate and help evacuate casualties.