Five Iraqis killed in car explosion: police

BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) – Five Iraqi civilians were killed
on Wednesday when a booby-trapped car exploded as they tried to
recover four corpses found inside the vehicle near the city of
Baquba, police said.

The five were among a group of people traveling to work in
a minibus near the city northeast of Baghdad when they spotted
the car with the corpses inside by the side of the road, said
Lieutenant-Colonel Salman al-Dahlagi.

A policeman was among six people wounded in the blast, he
said.

The discovery of bodies dumped by the side of the road and
in other places is a common occurrence in Iraq, where sectarian
violence has increased in recent months.

Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, 40 miles from
Baghdad, has seen considerable violence on the part of Sunni
Arab guerrillas in the past year.

Also in Baquba on Wednesday, gunmen killed a detective
lieutenant-colonel and his two bodyguards, police said.