Gunmen shoot dead top Iraqi judge

US troops are struggling against armed attacks in Mosul

A senior Iraqi judge has been shot dead in the northern city of Mosul.

Police say the judge, Youssef Khoshi, was shot six times in the back by several men in a car on Monday night.

Another judge, who was leading an investigation into the activities of local Baath Party activists, was killed last month in a similar attack.

Oil company officials and senior police officers in Mosul have also been killed in attacks since the fall of the Saddam Hussein government.

Police Major Ali Mohammed said the judge died immediately after the attack.

Judge Youssef Khoshi was one of the three chief investigative judges in Mosul.