Provincial Official Killed in Baghdad Bombing

A bomb attack Monday in central Baghdad on a government convoy killed a provincial councilor and wounded eight other people, including three bodyguards, an interior ministry official said.

"Jassem Ali Mahmud was killed and three of his bodyguards and five passersby were wounded when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed through Khulani neighborhood," the official said.

Baghdad Governor Salah Abdel Razak confirmed the death of Mahumd, who was elected on the list of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition.

"He was returning to the municipality in Baghdad when he was killed," Abdel Razak told AFP. "Many Iraqi officials these days are the target of terrorists."

In another attack on Monday, two civilians were wounded when a shell struck a bridge in Baghdad's high security Green Zone, where the United States embassy and many government offices are situated, officials said.

Violence in Iraq has plunged dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks by insurgents still remain part of daily life.(AFP)