At least five civilians were killed and 23 wounded Monday when a man detonated explosives packed into his car in the western Iraqi province of al-Anbar, according to dpa. The bomber was trying to kill the police chief of the district of al-Saqalawiya, whose convoy was passing at the time, police in al- Anbar told the German Press Agency dpa. The police official escaped unscathed. Police had earlier said that two people had been killed and that seven people were wounded, but later told Baghdad's Aswat al-Iraq news agency that confirmed casualties had mounted over the course of the day. Monday's attack followed a powerful car bomb explosion in the nearby town of al-Haditha, in Iraq's Sunni heartland some 250 kilometers north-east of Baghdad. At least seven people were killed and 20 wounded Sunday when a powerful car bomb exploded in a crowded market in the town, police said. Four of the wounded were in critical condition. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the bombings followed five consecutive attacks targeting mosques associated with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's movement in Baghdad. At least 30 people were killed in those attacks and at least 100 others wounded. In the north of the country, two policemen were killed late on Sunday when a bomb planted by the side of the road exploded as they patrolled al-Yarmuk, just south of Mosul, police told dpa Monday. A third policeman died and four others were injured when "unknown gunmen" sprayed their patrol with machine-gun fire in the eastern Mosul district of al-Bikr late on Sunday, police said.
