BAGHDAD, Oct 31: The brother of one of Iraq’s two vice presidents was shot dead and a deputy minister injured in attacks across Iraq on Monday. The US military also announced the death of an American marine in a roadside bombing.

Deputy trade minister Kais Dawud Hassan was wounded when gunmen opened fire on his convoy in western Baghdad. He was rushed to hospital after the attack, an interior ministry official said.

Two bodyguards were killed and six injured in the attack.

Earlier in the day cabinet adviser Ghaleb Abdel Mehdi, brother to Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi, died of wounds after being ambushed in his car in Baghdad. His driver was also killed.

The attacks came one day after a bomb hidden in a truck packed with dates exploded in the village of Huwaider, some 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, killing at least 26 and wounding at least 45.

On Sunday, police and local vigilantes threw a security cordon around Huwaider as locals cleared up debris and officials tried to identify more human remains, some found on the roofs of nearby houses.

Police said that at least 14 people were still listed as missing. —AFP