Bombing and shootings kill 4 in Iraq

A bombing and a shooting against a police patrol and a city council member in Iraq killed four people and wounded four others on Friday, security and medical officials said. "Three policemen were killed and two others wounded by a bomb targeting their patrol in Al-Muqdadiyah this morning," said a police lieutenant colonel in the town, which lies in restive Diyala province. Dr Ahmed Ibrahim, from the main hospital in the nearby provincial capital Baquba, 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Baghdad, confirmed the toll. And just outside the city of Haditha, in Anbar province northwest of the capital, city councilman Nabil Shaaker was killed and two of his brothers wounded when gunmen fired on their car, according to a police lieutenant colonel and doctor Dr Omar Adil at the city's hospital. The latest violence brings the number of people killed in attacks in Iraq so far this month to at least 103, including 55 security forces members, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources. While violence has decreased from its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common across Iraq. There were attacks on 27 of the 31 days in July. Official figures put the number of people killed in attacks in July at 325, the highest monthly death toll since August 2010.