Iraqi police chief dies in attack

The police chief of a mainly Shia Iraqi region south of Baghdad has died in a roadside bomb attack, police say.

Local sources say Maj-Gen Qais al-Mamoori was killed when a bomb or bombs were simultaneously detonated near Hilla, capital of Babil province.

Unconfirmed reports say two of the police chief's guards also died.

The attack is the latest of several on senior security and political figures in southern Iraq. Two governors and a police chief were killed in August.

Several other senior figures have escaped assassination attempts.

There has been no word on who is been behind any of the attacks but correspondents say they are probably related to a power struggle among Shia groups.

Earlier two soldiers were killed and at least three injured when a suicide car bomb exploded at an army checkpoint in the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad.

It was the second suicide attack in Baiji in the past two days.

Seven people died on Saturday when a bomber targeted a building used by the security forces.