2 separate attacks in Iraq kill 5, injure 5

BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb attack and a drive-by shooting against security forces and government employees in and around Baghdad killed five people and injured five others on Sunday, police and health officials said.

Two police officers said a roadside bomb went off next to a police patrol in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, killing three policemen. Another bomb went off a few minutes later and hit a police patrol en route to the scene, injuring three policemen and two civilians, they added.

The town, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, was a former insurgent stronghold from which attacks on Iraqi security forces and nearby Shiite areas had been launched.

Another police officer said that in Baghdad’s western Jihad neighborhood, gunmen in a speeding car killed two employees at the so-called Sunni Endowment, a department that supervises Sunni religious administration, including holy sites and mosques.

The two dead were neighbors leaving their houses in a car when the gunmen showered them with bullets.

Two health officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the causalities. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.

Violence has ebbed in Iraq, but insurgents frequently attack security forces and Shiites in an attempt to undermine the government’s authority.

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