BAGHDAD, Sept. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- An Iraqi police colonel was shot dead Thursday morning when heading to work in Baquba, police said.

    "Col. Fadhel Mahmoud, an officer in Diyala provincial police headquarters, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in an area located between Baquba and Kanaan, some 50 km northeast of Baghdad," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    Mahmoud's driver was wounded in the attack, the source added.

    Insurgents frequently target Iraq's fledgling security forces in an attempt to cripple the Shiite-dominated government formed in late April. Enditem