A suspect being questioned over Baghdad bombings last week grabbed a police weapon and killed an officer, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday, as it announced an inquiry into the “negligence”. The suspect, who also shot and wounded the policeman whose gun he took, later died in hospital. The ministry did not specify whether he had been shot by police or taken his own life.

The announcement came shortly after the United Nations confirmed a special envoy would be visiting Baghdad on Sunday to make preliminary findings on security after last weekend’s bombings and a similar attack against government offices in August.

“One of our police officers was killed by a suspect involved in Sunday's bombings,” a ministry statement said, adding that the incident occurred at 1.00 am at the Criminal Investigations Directorate in central Baghdad.