Suicide bombers kill 21 people in Iraq

Suicide bombers killed 21 people in attacks on an Iraqi police academy and a checkpoint on Wednesday, part of a campaign to derail January 30 elections which Iraq's prime minister vowed will go ahead.

The first bomber rammed an explosives-packed car into the police academy, killing 15 people in the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, near the lawless area known as the "Triangle of Death", police spokesman Hadi Hatif said.

Hours later, a suicide car bomber killed six people at a checkpoint manned by police and National Guards in the northern city of Baquba, police and hospital sources said.

The attacks were the latest by insurgents who have killed more than 90 people, mostly policemen, this week alone in a campaign targeting the US-backed interim government and its fledgling security services.