By Xinhua
Baghdad : An Iraqi policeman was killed and five others were injured in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.
“A roadside bomb detonated in the morning near a police commando patrol near the al-Firdus mosque in the Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Ur, killing a policeman and wounding five others aboard,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The powerful blast damaged one of the police vehicles and several nearby buildings, the source said.
In a separate incident, a motorcycle packed with explosives detonated near a U.S. patrol while passing through Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad.
It was unclear whether the U.S. patrol sustained any casualties as the troops immediately cordoned off the area, preventing the Iraqi police from approaching the scene, the source added.
In eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb went off near another U.S. patrol in the Baladiyat neighborhood, setting a U.S. Humvee on fire, the source said.
The U.S. military did not confirm the two incidents yet.
The attacks came as the capital is witnessing tensions between militiamen loyal to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces after the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned that Sadr must disband his Mahdi Army militia or will be barred from taking part in the upcoming provincial elections.