BAGHDAD — Iraqi police and health officials say two bomb explosions have killed three policemen and injured five other people south of the capital Baghdad.

Two police officers say the first bomb went off Sunday morning next to a police patrol in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, killing three policemen. Another bomb went off a few minutes later, hitting a police patrol en route to the scene, injuring three policemen and two civilians.

A health official in a nearby hospital confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.

The town, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Baghdad, was a former insurgent stronghold from which attacks on Iraqi security forces and nearby Shiite areas had been launched.