Roadside bomb kills Iraqi police

A roadside bomb has killed seven Iraqi policemen near the city of Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, Iraqi military officials have said.

The bomb exploded overnight as three police vehicles were passing along the main road between Diwaniya and Ifak.

Reports say the vehicles was heading to the police station at Ifak, which had come under an earlier attack.

Correspondents say unrest between rival militias is common in the area around Diwaniya, a mainly Shia Muslim city.

No casualties were reported in the attack on the police station.

The commander of the back-up unit send to reinforce the police station was among the dead.

On Monday, militants attacked the mainly Polish military base at Diwaniyah, killing five civilians and wounding about 25 people, including two Polish soldiers.

In other reported violence on Wednesday, a bomb exploded near a residential building in Zafaraniyah, south-east Baghdad, killing at least two civilians.