6 People killed in separate attacks in Iraq

Six people were killed Friday in different Iraqi provinces, as almost daily attacks increased across the country, ahead of a scheduled withdrawal by US forces later this year. Four civilians were killed and 15 injured in five consecutive blasts in west Baghdad, a police source reported. The explosive charges went off near houses in the west Baghdad districts of Ghazaliya and Shu''la, the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. A policeman was killed and three injured in an armed attack in Baquba city, when a group of gunmen - carrying weapons fitted with silencers - attacked a police checkpoint. Baquba is located some 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad. In the northern city of Mosul, a soldier was killed when armed men opened fire at an army checkpoint in the Qahira district, a security source told Aswat al-Iraq. A woman was also killed in sporadic shooting in southern Mosul.(