Gunmen Kill 7 on Bus Headed to Baghdad

BAGHDAD - A group of gunmen in two cars attacked a minibus heading to Baghdad from a Shiite town north of the capital Monday, killing seven passengers including a child, police said.

The attack underscored the sectarian violence and instability that continues to plague Diyala province north of Baghdad despite the three-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad and the surrounding areas.

The bus, which left the town of Khalis, was driving near the violence-wracked city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, about 11:30 a.m. when it was ambushed outside the town of Hibhib, police said.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb detonated near a group of Iraqi soldiers patrolling …