Bomb and shootings kill at least four Iraqis

A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi-police patrol killed two pedestrians in eastern Baghdad today, police said.

The attack missed the police convoy but wounded two other civilians in the Iraqi capital’s Sinaa neighbourhood, an officer said.

Also in eastern Baghdad, drive-by gunmen sprayed bullets at four guards for the Iraqi finance ministry, killing one and injuring two others, the same officer said.

In Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of the capital, gunmen assassinated Akeel al-Khalidi, a defence ministry employee, as he left his house for work, another police officer said.

Another roadside bomb went off near an American military convoy in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, damaging one Humvee, police said. There was no word on casualties, and US troops sealed off the area.