Nine dead in bomb and rocket attacks

Insurgents launched roadside bomb blasts and rocket-propelled grenade attacks north of Baghdad early today, killing at least nine people, including a policeman’s four children.

The children, aged from six to 11 years, and their uncle died in the attack by a team of insurgents shortly after midnight on their home in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, according to spokesman from the Iraqi police Joint Coordination Center.