Iraqi police chief gunned down

2005-04-01 10:18

Baquba - The chief of police in the tense Iraqi town of Baladruz was killed by gunmen overnight, a security source said on Friday.

Colonel Hatem Rashid was attacked while he was on patrol in Baladruz, 50km north-east of the capital, the source said, without providing further details.

The mixed Sunni-Shiite province of Diyala, home to Baladruz and the restive city of Baquba, is often the scene of attacks against the country's security forces.

Assassinations of police and army officers have been on the rise and in the last week of March alone a Baghdad police chief was killed as he drove to work and a senior army officer from the southern city of Basra was gunned down in the capital. - AFP

- SAPA