22 killed in Iraqi drive-by shootings, bombings

The car bomb in the southeastern district of Baghdad al-Jadeeda targeting a police patrol killed five people and wounded seven, an interior ministry official said.

The neighbourhood has been hit repeatedly over the past three days.

In the main northern city of Mosul, a family of blacksmiths was targeted when gunmen drove up next to their car and opened fire, killing four and wounding one, police said.

Also in Mosul, a former official of the Baath party, which ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein was killed in a drive-by shooting outside his home.

Three day labourers on their way to work were also killed when gunmen in a car raked their mini-bus with bullets on the road from Baquba to Khalis, northeast of the capital, police said.

East of Baquba, in Balad Ruz, a bomb near the courthouse killed a 10-year-old boy and wounded two others.

In the northern oil centre of Kirkuk, a member of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party working for the city education department was gunned down as he drove away from his home in the northern, oil-rich city.

In west Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on three elderly men, one of whom was blind and another disabled, killing them all.

In the city centre, a mortar round struck near the heavily fortified Green Zone administrative compound, killing one person and wounding four.