Iraqi officials: Attackers kill army Brig. Gen., 2 civilians in separate attacks

BAGHDAD – Iraqi officials say gunmen with silenced weapons killed an army Brigadier General just outside Baghdad, while two civilians died in separate attacks elsewhere in the country.

Police and medical officials said Monday the gunmen shot dead Brig. Gen. Abdul-Muhsen Khazal in the Sunni town of Taji, just north of the capital.

In Haditha, a roadside bomb went off near an army patrol, killing one civilian and wounding four soldiers, said Mohammed Fathi, a provincial spokesman in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

Another bomb exploded in the northwest city of Mosul, killing one civilian and wounding another, police said.

Health officials confirmed the casualties. Unnamed officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. Security forces are a top target for insurgents seeking to destabilize the country.