Gunmen kill trade ministry official in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - Gunmen shot dead a senior official in Iraq's trade ministry as he was being driven to work in Baghdad on Sunday, police said, the latest in a series of assassinations of senior government employees.

Ali Mousa Salman, director general of the ministry, was killed after leaving his home in central Baghdad. His driver was also killed and three other people were wounded.

In recent months, more than a dozen senior government officials have been shot dead in Baghdad in well planned attacks. The latest assassination came amid a surge in violence since a new government was formed in late April.

At least five Iraqi commandos were killed late on Saturday in an ambush in the town of Baiji, 180km north of the capital, Iraqi police said.

Mainly Sunni Muslim insurgents have stepped up attacks on officials and security forces since a Shi'ite-dominated government was sworn in, handing power to Iraq's majority religious sect for the first time.

More than 500 people have been killed in the three-week campaign of killings that has challenged government promises of stability and fuelled fears that sectarian strife could lead to civil war.

- REUTERS