A top member of the Iraqi Army, Brigadier General Riad Majid, was killed today in front of his home on the outskirts of Baghdad, when unknown assailants opened fire on him.

General Majid was an inspector for the Defense Ministry and is just the latest casualty in a long line of attacks by insurgents on members of the nation’s security forces.

Meanwhile, a Sunni candidate for parliament was also assassinated today in a “sticky bomb” attack near Fallujah. Saud Essawi was a member of Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani’s Iraqi Unity Alliance. Two of his bodyguards were also slain.

Attacks across Iraq have been on the rise in the last several months, with hundreds killed in the most high profile attacks. Around 120,000 US soldiers remain in Iraq, though some are predicted to leave after the March elections.