BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq police chief's children held

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq police chief's children held: "Gunmen in Iraq have attacked the house of a senior police officer, killing his wife and 13 other people and taking away three of his children.

The attack took place late on Thursday on the house of Col Ali al-Jurani, the head of emergency police in the town of Kanaan, in Diyala province.

Diyala has been the scene of some of the worst violence in Iraq.

Meanwhile two double bombings - one in the south of Iraq and one in the north - killed at least 34 people in total.

Hundreds of people die every month in attacks which have brought Iraq to the brink of civil war.

Millions of people have also been displaced by the spiralling sectarian strife." Read complete post here.