Four killed in mortar attack on Iraqi troops

Fourteen shells rained down on the barracks of the Al Salam brigade in Madain, about 20 kilometres south of the capital.

The commander of an Iraqi public order battalion was killed, along with three soldiers on Wednesday when rebels mortared their base south of Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.

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Fourteen shells rained down on the barracks of the Al Salam brigade in Madain, about 20 kilometres south of the capital, in the early hours of Wednesday.

The mixed Sunni-Shiite area south of Baghdad is known as the "triangle of death" for the frequency of incidents there.

The commander was identified as a Colonel Adnan.

Iraqi forces carried out a sweep of the neighbouring area after the attack and detained 50 suspects.