It’s generally not considered a sign of stability when people start killing police chiefs:
An Iraqi police chief has died in an apparent ambush as he toured the site of a blast that had killed at least 34 people in the northern city of Mosul.
Brig Gen Saleh Mohammed Hassan was fleeing the area after gunmen opened fire on his convoy, reports say.
The convoy was hit by an explosion that also killed two other police officers. The cause of the blast is unconfirmed.
More than 200 bystanders were hurt on Wednesday in a huge blast as troops were surrounding a block of flats.
Provincial officials increased the confirmed death toll from 20 on Thursday and said it may rise further.
“Whole families have vanished, there are still people trapped under the rubble,” said council chief Hisham al-Hamdani.
