Five Iraqis killed in car explosion

Baquba, Iraq, May 10: Five Iraqi civilians were killed today 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 travelling 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 occurence in Iraq, where sectarian violence has increased in recent months.

Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad, has seen considerable violence on the part of Sunni Arab guerrillas in the past year.

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

REUTERS SI RK1205