Blast near former insurgent base kills 4 Iraqi police

4 Iraqi police killed in blast near Fallujah

BAGHDAD — Police officials say a car bomb has killed at least four Iraqi policemen outside the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

The officials say the blast from a bomb-rigged car in Karmah on the outskirts of Fallujah also wounded a policeman and two civilians. Among the dead Sunday was a police lieutenant colonel.

Fallujah has been the scene of recent violence as Sunni insurgents apparently seek to regain footholds in the area, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.

In Baghdad, officials say militants killed a government worker in a highway ambush and wounded four more in a string of attacks targeting public employees.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants killed a government worker in a highway ambush and wounded four more in a string of attacks across Baghdad on Sunday targeting public employees.

Police said the assailants flagged down the car of an employee of Iraqi’s Committee on Anti-Corruption as he was driving on Baghdad’s airport road and shot him. A hospital official confirmed the killing.

Nicknamed “Route Irish” by the U.S. military, the highway runs through several Sunni neighborhoods and was considered one of the world’s deadliest roads at the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007.

Three other attacks in the capital also targeted public employees.

A Culture Ministry worker and an Electricity Ministry employee were wounded in separate shootings, while two Cabinet aides were wounded in a car bombing, police said.

Another blast killed one passer-by and wounded seven others in the mixed Sunni-Shiite Karradah neighborhood. Officials said the bomb appeared to be targeting a police patrol.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Iraqis have grown increasingly frustrated by the country’s political deadlock that has Iraq without a government more than six months after March elections failed to produce a clear winner.

Iraqi and U.S. officials fear that insurgents are trying to exploit the political vacuum in an attempt to re-ignite sectarian tensions.

Associated Press Writer Lara Jakes contributed to this report.