15 killed in attacks across Iraq

BAGHDAD—At least 15 people were killed in attacks Friday around Iraq, including the commander of a battalion of special Interior Ministry police and six women and two girls who were shot south of Baghdad.
The women and young girls were killed by unidentified gunmen on the western outskirts of Suwayrah, 25 miles south of Baghdad, police Lt. Mohammed al-Shammari said. Two other teenage girls were kidnapped, he said.
In Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, a bomb planted in the Interior Ministry police headquarters killed Col. Salam al-Maamouri, commander of the Scorpion police battalion, and his aide, while wounding seven others, police Lt. Osama Ahmed said.
Police were investigating whether the bomb could have been placed by a policeman from the brigade, Ahmed said. He added that the bomb appeared to have been planted under the commander's chair or desk.
In downtown Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, a father and his two sons were killed by gunmen, provincial police said. Another two people were killed and one was wounded when unknown assailants opened fire on them on the eastern outskirts of Baqouba, police said.
The bodies of two guards assigned to protect a sewage handling facility were found in a market in Suwayrah, said Hadi al-Itabi, an official at the morgue in Kut.—Agencies