FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 9

(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1245 GMT on Sunday.

HILLA - A roadside bomb killed the police chief of Iraq's Babel province and five of his guards on Sunday, police said.

BAIJI - A suicide car bomb targeted an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing two soldiers and wounding seven others in western Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, the Iraqi army said.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers killed nine gunmen and detained 49 others during military operations across Iraq, the Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

BAGHDAD - Three bodies were found in different areas of Baghdad on Saturday, police said.

KUT - Gunmen killed Iraqi army colonel Omran Mousa in a drive by-shooting north of Kut, 170 km (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.

SHIRQAT - Insurgents blew up the house of a member of a neighborhood patrol, wounding three members of his family in the town of Shiras, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - The government announced a ban on official vehicles driving without number plates in a bid to counter death squads and gangs who use unmarked government vehicles in attacks.

(Baghdad newsroom; editing by Peter Graff)