Attacks on Iraqi police, US-backed patrols kill 6; police official quits after son's abduction

A series of attacks on Iraqi police and anti-al-Qaida volunteers on Saturday left six people dead in Baghdad and neighboring Diyala province, where a top security official resigned after his son was abducted and threatened with death.

In Diyala province, which has become a refuge for al-Qaida in Iraq militants fleeing the crackdown in Baghdad, fierce fighting erupted in villages outside the provincial capital, Baqouba, Iraqi security officials said. The U.S. military also announced the death of an American soldier, fatally shot in an attack Friday in northern Ninevah province.

Early Saturday in eastern Baghdad, a pair of synchronized roadside bombs targeted …