Attacks on Iraq security forces kill seven

Bombings and shootings targeting Iraqi security forces killed seven people on Wednesday, among them a senior police officer, security and medical officials said. The violence comes a day after a wave of attacks against security forces left nine police and soldiers dead and 11 wounded. In the deadliest attack, two roadside bombs exploded in an area about 40 kilometres (24 miles) north of Hilla, which lies south of Baghdad. The bombings killed police Lieutenant Colonel Salman Kadhim al-Khazraji, two other policeman and a civilian and wounded two other police, an officer in the Babil police media office and a doctor from Hilla hospital said. Gunmen also shot dead two soldiers and wounded a third in an attack on a checkpoint near Iskandiriyah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Baghdad, an army first lieutenant and a medical source said. And a policeman was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb that targeted a checkpoint in a village near Balad, north of Baghdad, a police colonel and a medical source said. While insurgents opposed to the Baghdad government are regarded as weaker than in past years, they have shown they can strike at even the most highly secured sites in the country. Targets in recent months have included a police station, a military base, the anti-terrorism directorate in Baghdad, a prison and an entrance to Baghdad\'s heavily fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi government is headquartered.