Five killed in attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Five people were killed and more than six injured in attacks by militants in Iraq, police said Saturday.

Two people were killed and two injured by a bomb exploded near the home of a government official in the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad.

“The bomb was left in front of the house of Taleb al-Bayati, director of the area of Suleiman Beik in southern Kirkuk, leaving his mother and one of his bodyguards dead and injuring two others,” a police source said.

Gunmen killed three members of the Sahwa movement and injured four others in armed attacks in two other areas of southern Kirkuk Friday night, security sources said.

The Sahwa (Awakening) are former Sunni insurgents who allied with US and Iraqi security forces in fighting Al Qaeda. They have been frequently targeted by militants.

A local journalist was being treated in hospital Saturday after he was attacked by armed gunmen at his home the previous night, security sources said.

The gunmen beat Khaled al-Karghouli and some of his relatives at the house in central Ramadi, about 100 km west of Baghdad, and fired shots before fleeing, according to the sources.