( dpa ) - A suicide bombing in the Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday killed the police chief of Nineveh province, who had been inspecting the scene of a separate bomb attack the day before, military officials said.
A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up Thursday morning, critically wounding police chief General Salih Hasan, the head of army operations in Nineveh, General Riyad Tawfik, told Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.
Hasan died of his wounds. One of his guards was also wounded in the suicide bombing.
The block of flats which the police chief was inspecting was the scene of a huge blast Wednesday, in which at least 15 people were killed and over 141 wounded.
Mosul, 400 kilometres north of Baghdad, has recently seen a surge in violence, which many analysts blame on a large-scale offensive launched by US and Iraqi troops in Baghdad and surrounding areas against loyalists of the al-Qeada terrorist network.
The offensive has led to improved security in Baghdad but many insurgents are believed to have fled the area and are regrouping in provinces of northern Iraq.
A curfew was imposed in Nineveh after Wednesday's attack.