Lt Col Mohammed Ibrahim, director of Iraq's police commando affairs, was heading to work when a bomb planted on his car exploded around 10 am in the Mansour neighborhood, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

He and his bodyguard both survived with injuries, but his driver was killed, the officer said.

Meanwhile, a mortar round slammed into a street in a northeastern section of the capital, killing an Iraqi soldier on foot patrol, another police officer said.

The attack occurred at 9 am on Sunday in the Sulaikh area, police said. Three civilians and another soldier were also wounded in the attack, an officer said on the same anonymity condition.

South of Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman was killed in a drive-by shooting Sunday near Kut, 160 kilometres southeast of the capital, police said. -- AP