MOSUL (AFP) -- Seven Iraqi police and a Kurdish militiaman were killed Monday as they tried to tackle two separate bomb attacks near the main northern city of Mosul, a police official said.

In the Christian village of Hadaniyeh, 30 kilometers east of the city, five police and a member of the Asayesh Kurdish auxiliary force were killed as they attempted to defuse a vehicle bomb in a car park.

On the Hammam al-Alil bridge 15 kilometers south of Mosul, two policemen were killed and two wounded as they tried to defuse a bomb placed on the bridge.

The deaths came the day before Iraqi security forces were due to take sole responsibility in all the country's urban areas with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from city streets.