Car bombings in Baghdad kill at least 6

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A suicide car bomb and another car packed with explosives targeted Iraqi police patrols Saturday on opposite sides of Baghdad, killing at least six people, police said.

The suicide attacker rammed into a police patrol midafternoon in Nisoor Square on the capital’s west side, killing a civilian and a policeman, police said. Another five people were wounded.

The other explosion took place nearly simultaneously across town at a crowded bus stop where passengers were lining up to catch rides to eastern Shiite neighborhoods, though police said the target was the passing convoy of a top Iraqi police general.

Four people were killed and 18 wounded, Brig. Gen. Nazar Majeed among them, said an officer on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Three of the dead were policemen, he said.

The area includes shops that sell spare auto parts and tires, and is frequently used as a shortcut for Interior Ministry convoys trying to avoid traffic jams on another main street leading to government buildings, the officer said.

In Mosul, provincial Gov. Duraid Kashmola escaped assassination Saturday when gunmen attacked his convoy in the western part of the city. One of the vehicles was damaged, but there were no casualties, the provincial press office said.

Two policemen were killed Saturday evening in a drive-by shooting in downtown Mosul, police said. Five people including three civilian bystanders were wounded.