Six soldiers killed in north Iraq bombings

Bombings which targeted security forces in northern Iraq on Tuesday left six soldiers dead, including an officer, security and medical officials said. Two near-simultaneous explosions went off as a convoy was passing along the main road between the towns of Tuz Khurmatu, 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad, and Al-Adhaim, a military intelligence officer said. Six soldiers were killed and two others wounded, the officer said, giving a toll confirmed by Dr Mehdi Abdullah al-Bayati at Tuz Khurmatu's hospital. Violence in Iraq is down dramatically from its peaks in 2006 and 2008, but attacks remain common – 278 people were killed in August, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.