Four killed in Baghdad airport road blast

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb near a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad's airport killed four people and wounded nine on Wednesday, police said.

Two policemen were among the dead and three policemen were among the wounded in the blast, which took place by a statue near a major checkpoint outside the heavily guarded airport, police said.

Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq over the past year. Last month saw the lowest number of violent deaths among U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians since the war began in 2003.

But militants still launch daily bomb attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces and other targets.

(Editing by Charles Dick)