BAGHDAD – Attackers killed six Iraqi security officials including an army general on Wednesday, officials said, the latest wave of insurgent attacks aimed at undermining the central government.

The deadliest attack of the day came in the city of Kirkuk, where three policemen were killed and six wounded. City police commander Sarhad Qadir said their convoy hit a roadside bomb.

Kirkuk is 290 kilometres (180 miles) north of Baghdad.

The general died in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad. Police said Brig. Gen. Nadhum Tayeh was driving to work in the morning when a carload of gunmen opened fire, killing him.

Hours later, authorities said an off-duty army colonel was killed in a roadside bombing in northern Baghdad. In a third attacked, gunmen with silenced weapons shot and killed an off-duty policeman as he was walking near his house in eastern Baghdad.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity in all three Baghdad cases because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.

Security forces are a top target for insurgents seeking to destabilize Iraq.