Car bomb attacks kill five in Iraqi city

A car bomb has hit a patrol in Mosul, one of three attacks in the northern Iraqi city that left five dead.

A police officer said the car bomb went off early this morning at a house as a joint army-police unit was conducting door-to-door searches, killing two policemen and one soldier. He said 21 people, including 4 civilians, were wounded.

In the city centre militants gunned down a policeman in his car. Authorities also found a body floating in the Tigris river, shot at close range with the hands tied behind the back.

Mosul, some 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, is a former stronghold of Sunni militants.

A medical official confirmed the casualty figures.

PA