Two suicide bombers stormed into a police battalion headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday and killed the battalion commander, police sources said.   

The sources said two militants detonated their explosive vests in the office of Lieutenant Colonel Shamil Ahmed, who headed the battalion in Mosul's western area of Bab Sinjar.   

A third suicide bomber was killed by police before he was able to enter the main building.

"Two suicide (bombers) managed to blow themselves up inside his (the commander's) room and his body is still under debris," a police source in Mosul told Reuters.   

"Lieutenant Colonel Shamil (Ahmed) was known to be active in pursuing Al Qaeda members in Mosul and for this reason he was targeted," he said.   

Police sources said one policeman was injured in the attack.
Sources at the hospital and the city morgue said there did not appear to be any other fatalities.

The northern city of Mosul, about 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, is considered the last urban stronghold of the Al Qaeda militant Islamist group and remains one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq.

Earlier this month, Iraqi security forces arrested 12 Al Qaeda members in Mosul accused of making bombs and financing militant operations.   

Ahmed himself had been the target of previous attacks and escaped an attempt on his life last year, a police source said.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks on police and troops in recent months as the US military pulls back more than seven years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.   

Although overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian warfare in 2006-7, bombings and attacks are still a daily occurrence. - Reuters