JOIN USMilitants carried out a series of apparently coordinated attacks against Iraqi security forces in and around Baghdad today, killing six police and soldiers, security and medical officials said.
In Tarmiyah, north of the capital, militants attacked a police station with two car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov assault rifles, killing one policeman and wounding two, an interior ministry official and a medical source said.
Gunmen also attacked a checkpoint in Zayouna in east Baghdad, killing two police and wounding three, the interior ministry official said. In Al-Amriyah in west Baghdad, gunmen killed army Brigadier General Saleh Hassan Fezaa, while others attacked a checkpoint in Al-Amil in the south of the capital, killing two soldiers and wounding three.
While insurgents opposed to the Baghdad government are regarded as weaker than in past years, they have shown they can strike at even the most highly-secured sites in the country.
Targets in recent months included a military base, the anti-terrorism directorate in Baghdad, a prison, and an entrance to Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi government is headquartered.
Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but deadly attacks are still carried out almost every day. With the latest violence, at least 187 people have been killed and 685 wounded in attacks so far this month, according to a tally based on security and medical sources.