- BAGHDAD: A police major assigned to the bodyguard detail of Iraq's human rights minister was killed Saturday in a bomb attack south of Baghdad, authorities said.
Though violence has dramatically decreased in Iraq since its height in 2006 and 2007, there has been an uptick recently in the wake of March 7 parliamentary election that failed to produce a clear winner.
It was not clear who was responsible for Saturday's attack. Militants frequently often target high-ranking police officers.
The officer, Maj. Muhanad Abdul-Razaq Mohammed Hassan, was killed by a so-called “sticky bomb” that was attached to his personal car, said Babil provincial police spokesman Maj. Muthana Khalid.
The blast came at 1:15 a.m. the police officer drove near Musayyib, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Baghdad.
The major died later in a hospital.
Elsewhere, a bomb exploded about 11 p.m. Friday at the home of a tribal leader who had been supporting government security efforts in the southern city of Basra, killing the man's wife and injuring him and his son, Basra police spokesman Col. Karim al-Zaidi said.