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Iraq bombings target police

Iraqi industry minister escapes convoy attack

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A string of suicide bombing attacks across Iraq targeted Iraqi police Saturday, leaving more than 20 people dead and dozens wounded.

In the latest attack, two suicide bombers killed nine people, including five policemen, and wounded 36 others inside and outside a cafeteria frequented by Iraqi police around 10 p.m. in Hilla, south of Baghdad, police said.

One suicide bomber detonated inside the cafeteria, and another blew himself up outside, a police spokesman said.

Of the wounded, 20 were police officers. Four women and six children were also hurt, the police spokesman said.

The spokesman said the terrorists in the city were reacting to the police forces' fight against terrorism.

Earlier in the day, around 9:45 a.m., a suicide bomber with an explosive vest killed at least 12 people and wounded 22 others at a police recruiting center in western Baghdad, said an Iraqi police official and the U.S. military.

Most of those killed and wounded were Iraqi police commandos who were working with recruits outside the base near al-Nisoor square.

The attacker was dressed in an Iraqi police commando uniform when he blew himself up, the police official said.

About three hours later, a suicide car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police checkpoint in the town of al-Mahmoudiya, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Baghdad, an Iraqi police official said. Al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad received one dead and three wounded. All were civilians.

Shortly afterward, a remote-controlled car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, wounding three Iraqi policemen and eight civilians, a Baghdad police official said.

In other violence, Iraqi Industry Minister Usama al-Najafi escaped an attack on his convoy Saturday night in western Baghdad. Four bodyguards were wounded.

Other developments

Iraqi forces have captured seven people believed to be involved in plotting or carrying out attacks against Iraqi police stations in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The suspected insurgents were captured Thursday in three separate incidents by soldiers from the 6th Iraqi Army Division and by Iraqi police, the military said.

Coalition forces will investigate the killing of the cousin of Iraq's representative to the United Nations. Samir Sumaida'ie said U.S. Marines killed his young cousin as he was cooperating with a search of his home in Haditha.

In the northern city of Mosul an Iraqi police officer, Lt. Col. Anwar al-Turky, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday morning, police said.

One Iraqi civilian was killed and another wounded Friday in a mortar attack carried out by insurgents in Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, according to a news release from coalition forces in the region.

Iraqi Security Forces recently captured Dr. Safa Ali Chiad Mashul, who helped plan and carry out terrorist attacks, including kidnappings in Baghdad, according to coalition forces. The doctor, also known as Abu Sayf, treated hostages and helped disperse ransom funds collected from their kidnappings. He was picked up during a raid in the Baghdad area.

CNN's Cal Perry and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this story

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