Gunmen strafe police outside Baghdad hospital, kill 1

BAGHDAD, Dec 2 (Reuters) Gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint outside west Baghdad's main Yarmouk hospital today, killing at least one policemen and wounding two, an Interior Ministry official said.

The official said gunmen in a speeding car had raked the checkpoint with machinegun fire.

A security guard at Yarmouk gave a different account, saying three people were killed and seven wounded when gunmen in two cars tried to force their way into the compound, sparking clashes with hospital guards.

A bomb close to the hospital killed four people and wounded 40 on Tuesday. The apparent target was a police patrol near the hospital.

Yarmouk hospital has taken in many thousands of victims of Baghdad's violence over the past three years, though years of economic sanctions under Saddam Hussein and subsequent chaos in the Iraqi capital mean it is poorly equipped and understaffed.

REUTERS PDM PM1718