Iraqi officials say that the governor of Iraq's northern Sunni-dominated province of Ninevah has escaped an assassination attempt that left two people killed and three others wounded.

Two provincial police officials said that the Thursday night attack occurred when a car bomb went off next to the motorcade of Atheel al-Nujaifi in the volatile city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (220 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Police say the governor, the brother of parliament speaker Osmam al-Nujaifi, escaped unhurt but two civilian passers-by were killed.

A hospital official confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.

Mosul has been recently the scene of a series of deadly attacks and clashes amid a rising tide of sectarian and political violence hitting Iraq.

By SAMEER N. YACOUB Associated Press