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Three Iraqi police die trying to defuse bomb

By Jomana Karadsheh, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Three Iraqi police officers killed in Shirqat, north of Baghdad
  • Wave of violence has claimed 150 lives since Friday
  • Iraqis are frustrated with politicians over bloodshed

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- More than 150 Iraqis have been killed since Friday, including three police officers who died north of Baghdad on Thursday when the bomb they were trying to defuse exploded, police said.

The roadside bomb was in the town of Shirqat, according to police officials in Salaheddin province. Six people were wounded.

Shirqat is about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Baghdad.

At least one government official was killed and four security troops wounded in two attacks in the western al-Anbar Province. Also, a roadside bomb struck an Iraqi Army patrol in the city of Hit, wounding at least four soldiers.

In the town of Kubaisa, west of Ramadi, a bomb attached to the mayor's vehicle detonated and killed him Thursday morning, police said.

More than a dozen bombings Tuesday in mostly Shiite parts of the capital killed 64 people and left hundreds wounded. The bombings were among the largest coordinated attacks in Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

At least 58 people died in the siege of a Baghdad church on Sunday by fighters believed affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq. It was one of the worst attacks of the war against Iraq's dwindling Christian minority.

With levels of violence steadily rising since the country's largely inconclusive March elections, most Iraqis have become increasingly frustrated with their politicians, blaming the ongoing power struggle for the bloodshed.