Iraq car bomb and gunmen kill nine, wound 17

Nine Iraqis, including three Iraqi policemen and a man working as a translator for the US military, were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad today, police officials said.

A car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol at about 7:45am (3.45am Irish time) in northern Baghdad’s popular Shula district as people headed to work, said police Lt Haider Hussein.

Hussein and medic Naseer Hashim of Baghdad’s Nour Hospital said the car bomb targeted a police patrol, killing three policemen. Another two Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded, they added.

Separately, gunmen in a speeding car fired automatic weapons at a group of people walking to work in Baghdad’s southern Risala neighbourhood, killing four Iraqis, including a translator working for the American military, said police Lt Hussam Noori.

Iraqi security forces and Iraqis working with coalition forces have been repeatedly attacked by insurgents determined to bring down this country’s US-backed government.